Redemption
by Green113
Summary: Will he survive the curse? Will he be able to peer into Pandora's box and survive? Will Naruto live or will Naruto die?
1. Prologue

Prologue

**Naruto's P.O.V.**

**'**_Am I bleeding? Heh... yeah.. I am. I got hit pretty good... I.. can't hear a damn thing.. even Kurama is silent... Damn.. how'd it all go south.. I... I thought he was dead.. goddamnit... goddamnit... GODDAMNIT... __**GOD.. DAMNIT!**__'_

_Looking around, I examined the wasteland that was around me... The smell of corpses ever so present... The homes and shops of my home burnt to ashes... what the hell was that thing? I looked into its eyes and saw __**nothing.**_

_'Damn it... I have to focus...' _

"Ku.. Kurama... Can... can you hear me?"

_'I heard a pained growl. Good. He ain't dead yet. Not 100% he can even actually die but whatever... I need to get up...' _

_Attempting proved to be pretty stupid however because when I tried, my broken leg and ruptured lung caused me to collapse and hurl blood._

_**"Don't even try it Kid.." I heard Kurama groan out. "You're half dead and your chakra is practically non-existent... All you can do is lay down and wait.."**_

_'Wait for what'?_

_**"To die."**_

_I widened my eyes but in truth, I wasn't shocked. I was gonna die. It was really gonna happen. My blood from my wound in my side was already pooling on the ground. My eyes were getting blurry, I was becoming numb and the ability to move body was getting more and more difficult. I honestly wished I could've at least had one last bowel of Ichiraku Ramen before I kicked the bucket. If we're talking about wishes... there's a-lot of things I wish I could've done. Wish I could have learned dad's techniques... wish I could've beaten Shika at shogen... Out eat Choji... Heh.. Now THERE'S a fantasy... I wish.. I wish I could've made mom and dad proud and become Hokage... I.. wish I could've protected my village... my friends... my comrades... and... and... a-and... I-I wish... I-I could've t-told them how I f-felt... Ino... Hinata... I-I love... you..._

_Huh? _ "W-Who.. who the hell are you? Are you.. the Angel of Death?"

_The figure standing before me simply shook its head. _"No. I am Pandora. O Dead One, do ye wish at a chance for redemption?"


	2. Chapter 1: The Second Chance

Chapter 1: The Second Chance

A.N. - Alright people. Lemme get down to business. Firstly, this story is gonna involve a sort of mature, occasionally goofy Naruto. He'll be able to do things that his anime/manga counterpart are incapable/unwilling to do. Secondly, this is not a pairing between Ichigo and Naruto. Naruto will have a harem-like relationship with girls he'll have feelings for. Thirdly, I'm just starting out so my writing style may be a bit crude, so I'm open to suggestions upon improving it. And lastly, sorry about the character mix up. Whoops.

**Author's P.O.V.**

Naruto opened his eyes to see nothing. Literally nothing but blank whiteness. Groaning, Naruto managed to stand on his legs, immediately noticing that it didn't excruciatingly kill him to do so. Naruto blinked a few times before looking around.

"This is Pandora's Box." A soft voice rang out. Naruto looked around wildly but saw no one.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I've already told ye Dead One. I am known by many names but the most well known is Pandora."

"You're the one I saw before I-" Realization dawned on him. "Wait a minute... I'M DEAD?!"

"Not yet. The Spirits have not yet deemed your Life yet perished. We still have further use for thee." The voice seemed to come from everywhere making it impossible for Naruto to pinpoint.

'_Damn it.' _Naruto thought. _'I can't even sense Kurama inside me.'_

"Worry not." Pandora spoke. "Thou companion continues to exist in a separate realm and will be reunited with ye when We are finished with ye."

"The hell do you want?" Naruto demanded.

A flash of light blinded the blond haired shinobi, causing him to squint and shield his eyes with his arm. Before him appeared a beautiful woman at least 6' tall, with flowing black hair and dark blue eyes. The woman had light, smooth, silky skin and she was wearing a white Greek-like robe and golden leaves around her neck like a necklace.

"We want what ye want Dead One. We want Redemption."

**2 weeks earlier**

"Narutoooo-kuuuuuuunnn!"

An orange-clad Naruto turned around with a wide smile on his face, to see a certain pale blonde- haired, sky-blue eyed, purple clad kunoichi running towards his way.

"Ino-chan! What's up?"

"Well," Ino smiled and then handed him an envelope. "This is an invitation to the barbecue restaurant me, Choji, and Shikamaru hang at. Tsunade-sama wants the entire Rookie 11 to come. She wants to congratulate us, especially you, for how well we did in the war." Ino then pointed her finger towards mock-threateningly. "Make sure you get your cute ass there Uzumaki!" Ino then winked and stuck her tongue at him.

Naruto got in close and then smirked. "I'll bring my cute ass if you bring yours."

Ino giggled before kissing Naruto on the cheek and walking off. Naruto observed the sway of her hips, raised a brow then gave a 'a damn that's fine' whistle.

**"Remind me again why you haven't claimed her as your mate yet?"**

_"Will you stop calling girls 'mates`! And.. it`s complicated."_

**"I remember. You feel primal sexual desire towards the other mate. Hinata, was it?"**

_"It's not... just sexual desire. She told me she loved me and I think I love her too. But after the war, Ino.. I don't know. She's just so much more different than Sakura than she lets on. She likes me, but Hinata has loved me since the beginning. Hinata was always rooting for me while Ino and Sakura were putting me down. But everything's so different now, and confusing and damnit I just don't know and... HEY! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?"_

**"...Hrmm.. what? Sorry kid. I fell asleep while waiting for you to shut up. Man's common indecisiveness is probably just one of the various reasons your mates hate you. If you really can't choose one, just pick both and stop whining about it."**

_"No... they wouldn't accept that. It's really not fair to both of them to wish that. I'll figure it out."_

**"You do that, brat."**

With that, ended their mental conversation. Deciding all of this was too much for his noggin', Naruto decided to go to his favorite food place - Ichiraku Ramen.

**Hinata's P.O.V.**

It's a been 2 months since the war. It's been 6 months sinced I confessed to him. And it's been a week since I've seen (or heard, for that matter) Naruto-kun. I remember how easy it was to actually confess to him that day. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I've could've died that day, protecting Naruto like I did. But it was worth every broken bone, every shattered rib, every drop of blood.

**Author's P.O.V. **

"Alright!" Hinata announce to herself with confidence in her voice. "I'll find Naruto-kun!"

She stood up from the grave she was currently giving respects to. Neji Hyuga. A brave shinobi who sacrificed his life to protect his dear friend, his sister and to urge all shinobi to defeat the Juubi. Hinata left white flowers, Neji's favorite, on his grave. Smiling towards it, Hinata bowed her head in respect and love before running off to go find her beloved Naruto-kun. Luckily, Hinata knew exactly where to look.

Inhaling his 10th bowl of miso ramen, Naruto continued to contemplate his girl problem. And as if thoughts attract women, Naruto turned his head to see a girl dressed in a purple coat and lavender pants, blue hair and pupil-less white eyes walking towards him. Naruto smiled and waved at his other love interest. Naruto turned to Ayame and asked her to whip up another bowl of ramen. Hinata smiled and greeted Naruto as she sat down to eat with him.

"Naruto-kun, how have you been?"

"I've been good!" Naruto cheerfully replied. "Been readjusting to not having the fate of the world at stake and all that. How have you been, Hinata-chan?"

"Quite alright actually. I visited Neji's grave today."

"He was a really good friend."

"And a great cousin. I miss him."

"Me too. Maybe.. we'll see him again someday."

Hinata gave a small smile. "Maybe."

Deciding to change the subject to a lighter tone, Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled his signature smile and said, "Didya hear about the get-together Tsunade-baachan's cooking up?"

Hinata smiled back before replying, "Yes, I recieved the invitation as well. It sounds like it will be fun."

"Heh heh, I can't wait to pig out!"

Hinata giggled at Naruto's antics before becoming solemn again. At this point, she decided it was now or never.

"Naruto-kun... I need to ask you something.." Hinata started.

"Smurer, whash up, Hinawa?" Answered a full-mouthed Naruto.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata popped the question. "How do you feel.. about me?"

_'Okay, time to give these two some privacy.' _Teuchi, the restaurant owner, urged a nosy Ayame, whom was trying to discreetly eavesdrop on the conversation, to the back so the two youngsters could chat.

"Well," Naruto started, keeping his eyes on his empty soup bowl. "I-I think.. that.. that I.."

"Narutooooooo!"

Naruto and Hinata both turned to see Sakura and Sai, Naruto's teammates, walking towards them.

"Sakura-chan, Sai. What's up?"

"Kakashi-sensei wants us." Sai answered.

"What for?"

"Who knows? You know him." Sakura replied.

"Well, I.." Naruto looked back towards Hinata, unwilling to leave in the middle of their conversation.

Seeing the look on his face, Hinata smiled before putting her hand his shoulder, reassuring him that it was okay. Naruto still looked uncomfortable leaving her before finally nodding. Naruto stood up from the stool, took out Gama-chan, paid for the food, before exiting the restaurant. Naruto turned towards Hinata and proceeded to say, "We'll talk later Hinata. Bye!"

With that, Naruto and his comrades ran off to talk to their sensei.

**Ino's P.O.V.**

"Thank you Ino-san!"

"Anytime Kugochi. She'll love 'em. Trust me." The man waved at me as he left. I smiled politely and gave a wave, quite content with myself that I helped another lost soul in their quest for romance. Sighing contently, I reached over to grab a purple rose when I caught a glimpse of orange attire, blond hair and whiskers. Yep. I'm currently staring at Naruto Uzumaki as he walks past my shop with Sakura and the Sasuke-look-alike. I forget his name at the moment. He turned his head towards me and smiled. It seemed like it all happened in slow-mo. Damn it Yamanaka! Get ahold of yourself. You're not one of those fall in love head over heels over another boy type of girls. But damn, I remember it like yesterday... That day...

_Ino's P.O.V. (Flashback)_

_Me, Naruto, Hinata and Shikamaru were sent by Tsunade-sama to deliver resources to an offshore village. After the war, a lot of people suffered loss and damages to their homes, so the Gokage were determined to rectify it. We were placed on a boat and within a few hours we were sailing. We thought it would be a nice peaceful mission but in the end, it turned out we miscalculated that. A terrible hurricane wrecked our ship and sent us into the ocean. We washed up on a small island, thirsty and starving. Naruto and Shikamaru went out to search for food while Hinata and I attempted to build an S.O.S. fire. Eventually, we gave up and built small huts. I couldn't sleep so I decided to go to explore the island. Eventually, I found a small lake. It looked beautiful, with the Moon's reflection shining off of it. I stripped down to the bare essentials (No, not my birthday suit, you pervs!) and dove in. I remember the feeling, the cool freshness of the water, the way the scenery just seemed to resonate with.. I don't know.. everything. But then.. I saw him. He stumbled out of the forest in a sleepy daze, wearing his froggy boxers and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. And all I could do was feel annoyed. But when he saw me, his eyes lit up. He smiled a wide smile. And then waved. And for some reason.. some really strange reason I couldn't pinpoint.. I felt very calm when he did this. I raised my arm and waved back with a small smile on my face. He looked around for a minute before stepping on the water and walking towards me. After getting near me, he squatted down and decided to grace me with a close up view of his froggy boxers._

_"Whatcha doin' out here so late, Ino?"_

_I strained really hard to keep the fact that I was irked out of my voice. "Just taking a dip."_

_"Ah," Naruto then smirked playfully. Allowing his Chakra control to dissipate, Naruto allowed himself to fall into the water, splashing me in the face in the process. Instead of being annoyed, I was actually a little.. happy. After recovering and seeing Naruto's head resurface, I immediately retaliated rising up to place my heads on his noggin' and then pushing him down to keep that big head underwater. Naruto flailed around, struggling to beat my awesome Tsunade-like strength. He took another route however, as he simply grabbed my waist and dove further underwater. Underwater, Naruto gave me the peace sign with a mischevous smile on his face. With that, he swam upwards with me following close behind. As soon as I reached the surface, I wished I hadn't. I looked around and saw at least 20 Narutos standing on the water, seemingly ready to splash me. _

'Okay..,' _I thought_. 'This is a little overkill.'

_And overkill it was. On the original Naruto's command, he and his clones proceeded to splash me from all corners. Eventually, I was forced to dive and fight fire with mind control. I put my hands in position and executed my new technique:_

'Mind String Puppet Technique!' _I pointed my hands towards the clone above me and took control of him. I then had him shoot his control over two more clones. And they shot three clones. And the process repeated until I was in control over all of them. I ordered them mentally to splash Naruto while I swam up to the surface. When I resurfaced, I saw one Naruto laying on top of the water, breathing heavily, obviously having rid of his clones. I smirked smugly, climbing out of the water and laying on it beside him, breathing pretty heavy myself._

_"Couldn't tough it out, eh?" I teased._

_"Shut.. up.." Naruto managed to get out through his pants. After settling down, he turned his head towards me with a smile. He always smiles. "What technique was that? I never knew you could do that."_

_"Seems that there's a lot you don't know about me." I stuck my tongue out at him but I had a smile on my face that could rival his. Eventually, we started to stand up but that technique took it out of me, so as soon as I stood up I started to fall. But Naruto caught me, and supported me with his body. _

_"Couldn't tough it out, eh?" He teased._

_"Shut up." I retorted softly. _

_I raised my head to meet his eyes. No blinking. No running away. Standing in the center of the pond, half-naked, we shared a passionate kiss in the moonlight. But the next day, I think Hinata suspected something was amiss, because she kept staring at me. Eventually though, we were found and brought home. The mission was taken over by somebody else."_

**Ino's P.O.V. (Flashback Over)**

Ever since that experience, me and Naruto have been kinda flirty, but no real dates or anything.

"..-san."

But I think it could just be he's afraid of hurting Hinata. But I wonder if the reason she never said anything, if she did suspect something, was because she's used to her whiskered love interest having feelings for other girls, considering his crush on Sakura.

"..no-san."

I really hope though, that we don't have any problems. I'd hate to really-

"Ino-san!"

I snapped out of my train of thought to see, speak of the devil, Hinata standing in front of me.

"Hinata.. how can I help you?"

"Ino-san.. can we talk?"

Aw shit.

**Present Day (Author's P.O.V.) **

"What the **hell** do you mean?" Naruto demanded.

"Ye have lost all ye held close at heart. So have We." Pandora answered. "If ye wish to restore all that ye lost, ye will have to sustain a curse, one that will force ye to live out through millennia. If ye are brave of heart and deep in loss, then ye will live in eternity, in different lives, under different names, for a purpose beyond thou understanding. Do ye accept our proposal?"

Naruto looked down for a moment, considering Pandora's words before raising his head, determination in his eyes.

"I accept."

**2 Days Earlier (Author's P.O.V.)**

They came out of nowhere. Giant monsters with skeleton heads. They destroyed everything. Killed everyone. And the Konohagakure no sato couldn't do a single damn thing. The Konoha 11 fought to the very end. But they weren't strong enough. They weren't ready. Nobody was ready.

A.N. Quick notice, I am not proficient in Japanese and therefore the jutsus will have to be said in English. I could look up the Japanese names for the established techniques but for the new/original techniques, I don't trust google translate for that and for consistency I'll just apply that to all techniques. Sorry for whatever grammar mistakes I missed. Anyway, thank you for reading. Please review. And I'll see you next time.


	3. Chapter 2: Red Eyes

Chapter 2: Red Eyes

10 years after the Naruto's disappearance, life in Konohagakure went on as usual. Tsunade had stepped down as Hokage 5 years earlier, and Kakashi took her place. People in the Five Great Nations lived under great peace and tranquility. There were no more assassination missions, no more village against village warfare nor was their crime at home. The Rookie 11 became the world's heroes and were revered throughout the world.

But Naruto was missed. He will always be missed.

**10 Years Earlier **

After Naruto made the deal with Pandora, she restored Konohagakure, erasing everyone's memory of the event. Pandora allowed Naruto a day to settle his affairs before following through with his end of the deal. When Naruto materialized back into his world, he was overjoyed to see it standing, almost as if nothing happened. But his joy was cut short, as he was reminded by his tenant how long he had in this world.

**"Don't get all mushi-mushi kid." Kurama warned. "Go say your goodbyes, so we can do what we gotta do."**

Naruto grimaced before nodding. Naruto knew exactly what he wanted to do first. Jumping through the buildings of Konoha, Naruto made sure to take in as much as humanely possible. Naruto could hardly believe that he wasn't going to see his village again. This was his home. This was where he grew up. He shed blood here, had the worst and best moments of his life here. Hell, he even sort of died here. Now.. now he's never going to see it again. Scrunching his brow in determination, Naruto sped up, eventually reaching his destination - the Hyuga complex. Naruto saw Hinata leaving her her complex, walking towards the graveyard to visit Neji's grave, no doubt. Naruto followed her from the rooftops, all the while thoughts going through his head. He wondered things he never wondered before. He wondered if he'd be able to see her again. To talk to her again. To laugh with her again. He could hardly stand it. The more he thought about it, the more his heart ached. Naruto eventually leapt off the rooftop he was watching Hinata on and followed her into the graveyard. Naruto walked up behind her but heard she was talking, and decided to stay quiet for once.

"Neji-nii-san," Naruto heard Hinata say. "I really miss you. I remember all those times we trained together. I learned so much from you. I can only hope that I can live up to your example."

"You will." Hinata heard Naruto say. Hinata smiles before turning around to see Naruto with a sad look in his eye. It was subtle but Hinata had grown accustomed to recognizing his real emotions from her time stal- er, observing him during her younger days.

Hinata walked up to Naruto, gently placing her palm on his cheek. "Naruto-kun, what's wrong?"

Naruto placed his hand over her hand, before removing it and grabbing her other hand with his other hand. He then looked into her eyes, and simply leaned and kissed her. Hinata eyes briefly widened in surprise before closing them slowly and accepting the kiss. It ended, too quickly if you had to ask either of them, as Naruto parted from the kiss but remained within face-length of Hinata.

"I love you... Goodbye..." Naruto whispered. With that, Naruto let her hands go. He turned around and walked away, his figure getting smaller and smaller. Hinata reached her arm towards his disappearing figure unconsciously before placing her hands near her heart and whispering to no one, "I love you too."

Naruto then jumped through the rooftops, rushing towards his next destination. He eventually reached it, the Yamanaka Flower Shop. Jumping down from the roof, Naruto saw Ino with her back turned, tending to some flowers. Naruto entered the shop, and when he did, the door chime rang. Ino turned around with a smile but as soon as she did, Naruto immediately pressed his lips onto hers, pressing his body up on hers and holding her waist, causing her back to press up against the wall. Ino was shocked for a minute as to whom was actually kissing her, but luckily she realized it before her 'kick-the-perv-where-it-hurts' instincts kicked in. After this revelation, Ino relaxed into the kiss, loosely draping her arms over Naruto's shoulders. After successfully flushing all his emotion into the kiss, Naruto ended it with his ocean blue eyes staring into Ino's sky blue.

"I love you." Naruto said. But before she could reply Naruto abruptly turned around and exited the shop, leaving Ino flushed and confused. Now that Naruto had done that, he still had some business to attend to - dump away all his money pigging out on Ichiraku Ramen. Hell yeah. After effectively burning his insides and his money with literally dozens of bowls of ramen, Naruto bid farewell to Teuchi and Ayame, thanking them for being so kind to him over the years. Naruto's final errand was a simple but painful one. Naruto traveled through the rooftops, eventually going near the outskirts of Konoha into the woods. Naruto walked through the trees, whisking and turning around them, his destination ingrained in his mind. Eventually, he reached what he aimed for. His teacher, mentor and friend - Jiraya. Naruto placed the flowers he was carrying on the grave, before bending down on his knees, closing his eyes, bowing his head and clapping his hands together. After a few moments, Naruto rose up before nodding at his late teacher.

"Thanks for everything... Jiraya-sensei."

After giving his respects, Naruto then headed to the Hokage mountain, where he climbed it until he reached the Fourth Hokage's head. Naruto then looked towards the night sky and said, "Alright. I'm ready."

With that, Naruto faded away, disappearing from his home realm.

**Present Time**

In the capital of Soul Society, Seireitei, a man sat on a rooftop overlooking most of Soul Society. The man was currently contemplating some news that was going around.

"Rukia Kuchiki is going to be executed.. Damn, Byakuya's an idiot." The man stood up, his red short sleeved coat with black flames at the bottom flowing in the wind. The man then disappeared into thin air. The man then reappeared, crouched, on top of another roof, this time overlooking the Senkaimon, in which Rukia Kuchiki and her older brother, Byakuya Kuchiki, just exited. Along the two siblings was also Lieutenant Renji Abarai, a red haired brown eyed young man with tattoos on his forehead and neck, a white scarf wrapped around his head and a sword reminding the man of a certain sword he'd seen when he was young. The observer's eyes darted back and forth between Rukia and Byakuya, noting Rukia's ashamed and worried face with Byakuya's stoic and seemingly uncaring face. Renji attempted to keep a stern face but it was quite evident that he was worried about his colleague. The man stood up from his crouching position, his jacket flowing in the wind. The man was quite tall, standing at a good 6'. He was blond, his hair spikey and his bangs reached his chin. He had 3 whiskers on each of his cheeks. His eyes were a dark ocean blue, and on his forehead was headband with a metal plate in the center and on the center of the metal plate was a strange symbol that sort of resembled a bird. His attire was also not of normal Shinigami attire. He wore an orange flak combat vest, with pockets on its chest area and neck protectors. The man wore a black shirt with a swirl on his shoulder, and black pants with a bandage wrapped around his left thigh and pouch on it as well. On his feet, the man wore black sandals and on his back he carried a black handled sword within a red scabbard with a black flame scheme. This man is known as Naruto Uzumaki, Shinigami and Shinobi. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the three disappearing figures, Naruto then disappeared once more, reappearing in the office of the Captain-Commander. As soon as he did, a lightly tanned man with short silver hair and a thin handlebar mustache walked up to him with a stern look on his face. Over his shinigami uniform (which is a standard black kimono with a white sash tied around the waist) , he wore a white jinobaori over it with long white arm guards. His sword was tied around his hip.

"Uzumaki!" Vice-Captain Commander Chojiri Sakasbe said sternly. "I've told you that you can NOT just appear in the Captain-Commander's office whenever you please!"

Brushing past the man as if he were nothing, Naruto stormed up to the desk of the Captain-Commander himself - Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto.

"Old man!" Naruto yelled loudly. "What's the deal with you executing Byakuya's little sister?"

The "old man" Naruto spoke of looked up from his papers, staring at Naruto intensely.

Captain Commander Genryusai was a man of average height, and when he stood up, it could be gauged that he was 5' 6 at the most. The old man had red eyes, a long perpidencular scar that resembled an X on his forehead, long eyebrows and an insanely long beard, wrapped in a sort of purple colored wrapping resembling a helix. His haori was draped casually around his shoulders, and he was wearing the standard kimino which seemed way too big for his size. In his hand was a strange cane, which seemed off for some reason. Genruysai walked away from his desk to an open balcony, overlooking Seireitei.

"She has committed a great crime." Genruysai said in his deep old voice.

"What crime?!" Naruto demanded. "All she did was help some kid in the Human Realm! Are we really so stuck-up and hell bent on following the rules that we're willing to execute one of our own just to make an example?"

"Hrmph! If all Shinigami did as they wished, we would neither have order nor structure. This would make us unfit to defend both the Soul Society and the Human Realm. We must understand the necessity for order and forbid even the incitement to chaos."

"Urgh!" Naruto let out in frustration. "Damn it you old fart!" At this, Chojiri stepped in front of Naruto, with a livid look on his face.

"Uzumaki!" The man said loudly, disapproval and anger evident in his voice. "I will NOT allow you to speak to-"

But the Vice Captain-Commander was interrupted by Genruysai himself. "Chojiri.. leave us."

"But sir-"

"Now!"

Chojiri clammed shut, reluctant to obey but eventually started walking towards the door but not before offering a quick glare to Naruto. Naruto simply ignored it, deciding the situation at hand was more important.

"Look old man," Naruto started, after Chojiri exited the room. "This is simply and quite frankly, dropshit stupid. Byakuya's being an idiot, you're being an idiot, hell, everyone's being an idiot by accepting this crap."

Ignoring the crude language in which the young Shinigami/Shinobi spoke in, the Captain-Commander turned around to face the lad.

"I won't let it happen." Naruto declared, stepping in close, face-to-face with the old man. "I don't care what happens and I certainly don't give a damn about the rules. I won't let Byakuya make the mistake of destroying his family all in the name of some stupid rule."

Genryusai looked up sharply into Naruto's angry blue eyes. "I won't allow you to split everything in half over your childish and misplaced ideals. Just because Byakuya was your student and you wish to protect him from some tragedy, doesn't permit you to do as you please. He is loyal and understands the need for this. He will not stand for your atrocities and just because you were entrusted to me as my student, I will not pardon you should you make any move against this execution."

Naruto, ever the reckless one, leaned in close and narrowed his eyes dangerously with a confident smirk on his face. "Bring it on ya old fart."

With that, Naruto immediately disappeared. Genryusai sighed before returning to his view of Seireitei, contemplating all that was said. Naruto reappeared atop a tower overlooking Soul Society.

**Naruto's P.O.V.**

I can't believe the old man! Then again, I actually could. Believe it or not, I do actually see the need for rules and order but where the hell is the compassion? The comraderie? Son of a.. Urgh! And I threatened the old man. What am I, stupid?

**"Yes." **I heard my tenant say.

"_Shut up furball!" _I retorted, quite annoyed that my train of thought was interrupted. The one time I wasn't thinking about ramen.

**"I can't honestly believe - wait, scratch that, I can. When are you going to learn that your big mouth CAN get you killed?"**

"_The hell you expect me to do? Stand by and let Byakuya make the biggest mistake of his life?"_

**"I honestly can't understand your kindness towards him. That stone-cold meatball still reminds of the one with those eyes."**

"_Yeah.. me too. But it's not about him. I need to this because Byakuya was my student and he's my comrade. He shouldn't do this and if I have to knock some sense into him for that to be realized then I will."_

**"You do that, brat."**

With that ended our wonderful conversation. At that point, I decided I needed to clear my head and meditate. I sat down with my legs crossed and brought my fists together, just as I learned from the Old Toad. I closed my eyes and focused, taking in the natural energies around me. I decided to keep it low leveled and simply activated Sage Mode - Level 1. As soon as I did, I widened my eyes.

"_Kurama! Did you sense that?"_

**"Yeah... looks like we got some company."**

I smirked. Seems like Soul Society got themselves some dangerous uninvited party guests.

**Ichigo's P.O.V. **

Me, Inoue, Sado, and Ishida all finally made it here with Yoruichi-san, a talking black cat. But I'd seen way stranger things since I was exposed to this life. Since I became a Shinigami. But I couldn't have even got this power had it not been for Rukia. I WON'T let them execute her. I looked around for a moment, taking note of my surroundings, I looked up toward a tall building and I think I saw - a person? I tried squinting, and I could swear the figure looked right at me, right into my eyes. I blinked but as soon as I did, the figure was gone, as if I was simply imagining things. Did I? Did I imagine that? Did I imagine those red eyes?

A.N. Alright, second chapter finished. Hope you guys like it. Gimme some feedback and please lemme know what you think and what I can do to improve my writing style, if there are any flaws in it. As some of you may have noticed, I am using Bleach. wikia for a few reference points on the descriptive aspects of the story and such. That's cuz I actually haven't seen the Bleach anime in awhile so my memory may be a little fuzzy but I'm on top of it and will try to deliver the best content possible. Thanks for reading, leave a review and I'll see you guys next time.

Green out.


	4. Chapter 3: Yellow 'N' Orange

Chapter 3: Yellow 'N' Orange

"I admit it! I lost to you! I, Jidanbo the Gatekeeper, admit defeat! As a man, as a warrior, I concede!"

All Ichigo could do was watch with an incredulous look on his face. He had just beat Jidanbo Ikkanzaka, Gatekeeper of the West Gate.

"I'll open the gate for you!" Jidanbo announced.

Ichigo's eyes widened with happiness before offering smile. "Really?"

"No problem. I'll open it up in one swipe so step back." Jidanbo then grabbed the gate, lifting it up from the ground in an impressive fashion. But as soon as he did, Jidanbo simply froze there, seemingly stuck. Noting this Ichigo ran up to him and asked, "Something wrong?"

Ichigo saw the direction in which Jindanbo's eyes were steadily focused and then preceded to follow it, his eyes landing on a man walking towards him.

"Who's that?"

"Captain of squad 3," Jindabo said with a tremor in his voice. "Gin Ichimaru!"

The man, now known as Gin Ichimaru, walked toward them slowly. The man wore the standard Shinigami Captain attire. However, the man himself was anything but standard. His eyes were narrowed into slits and he possessed a smile that resembled a fox. The man was also extremely skinny, almost possessing a skeleton-like figure and was also quite tall, standing at about 6'1. He also had silver hair.

"My, my," Gin drew out in an eerie manner. "What have we here?" Gin quickly assessed the situation. "This ain't good."

Gin swung his sword in a quick fashion, and a second later, Jidanbo's was arm cut open with spurts of blood shooting out. This caused Jidanbo to lower his arm, fall onto one knee and the gate to lower a bit, but he still managed to keep the gate raised with his one arm.

"Unacceptable... _gatekeeper." _Gin drew out. "A guardian's supposed to keep intruders out, not let 'em in."

"But I.. I lost!" Jidanbo answered, pain evident in his voice. "Opening the gate is what is expected of a guardian whose lost."

"Where'd ya get that idea from?" Gin asked. "A guardian who loses doesn't open the gates. When a guardian loses... it means _death." _

But before Gin could do anything, Ichigo rushed forward, colliding with Gin and crossing blades. Ichigo then pushed Gin back, causing both of them to jump back in opposite directions.

"I-Ichigo!" Yoruichi cried.

Ichigo raised his sword and pointed it towards Gin, anger clear on his face. "The hell you think you're doing?"

"That's my line!" Yoruichi yelled.

"Don't think you can cut in and do whatever the hell you want, fox-face!"

"That's **my**line." A mysterious voice spoke.

A man with a red coat with black flames lining at the bottom suddenly appeared in front of Ichigo, his back turned to him. Yoruichi's eyes widened, apparently in recognition of the stranger. The man, whom we know as Naruto, immediately launched a quick jab towards Gin and a second later, a huge burst of pressure pushed Gin back, and left a long wind-tunnel like imprint in the ground. Gin was launched in the air from the strike but managed to land on his feet after performing a flip in the air.

Gin eyes opened, revealing his pale blue eyes, before glaring at Naruto.

'_Damn. I can't believe __**he's**_ _here of all people._'

"Ichimaru!" Naruto screamed, his voice dripping with fury and his expression so full of rage that his ocular nerves actually touched his pupils. "What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing to our comrade?!"

Gin's smile, that temporarily disappeared after Naruto's appearance, returned and his eyes reverted back to slits. "Nothin' much. Our great gatekeeper was just lettin' some ryoka in and it seemed that he needed to be punished. Is that a problem?"

Naruto glared fiercely at Gin. "No way in hell am I letting you do anything to Jidanbo, you bastard!" Ichigo yelled. Naruto turned his head back slightly, and examined Ichigo. A rather ordinary looking Shinigami with the only remarkable features being his larger Zanpakuto and his orange hair. Naruto swiftly turned around and grabbed Ichigo, picking him up, spinning and then launching him into Jidanbo. The impact caused the gatekeeper to fly back, which in turn caused the gate to rapidly fall. But before it did, Ichigo managed to steal a quick glance at Naruto but all he managed to process were his eyes. His red irises and the pupil itself being as thin as a needle.

Ichigo's eyes widened. '_Those are...!_'' But before the thought could be completely processed, the gate crashed to the ground, separating Ichigo and his friends from Seireitei.

"Who was that?!" Ichigo questioned.

Stepping forward, Yoruichi took a moment to process everything that just happened. "That was Naruto Uzumaki. Captain of Squad 0. He's an extremely dangerous and unpredictable opponent. I'd never thought we'd encounter him this soon." Yoruichi narrowed his eyes. '_Something's off about his being here._'

On the other side of the gate, Naruto and Gin were currently having a standoff. "What's wrong, Naruto-chan? 'Fraid to make a move?"

No answer.

Gin smirked in his Gin-way. "Fine. I'll go first." Gin pulled a short sword out of nowhere before pointing towards Naruto. "Shoot 'im dead, Shinso!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, which have returned back to normal, before calculating the attack. The sword shot out, reaching towards Naruto's head. Naruto didn't faze however, and simply turned his head to the side, dodging the sword's attack.

"Ho.." Gin uttered in surprise. "Not bad.

Naruto then reached behind his back and pulled out his own Zanpakuto. He then disappeared, reappearing behind Gin. Gin seemed to expect it and as soon as Naruto bought his sword down to strike him, Gin raised his sword to block Naruto's, reinforcing the block by pushing against his Zanpakuto with his other hand. The two Shinigami then both disappeared, before re-materializing in the air. The two clashed, with Naruto and Gin exchanging blows by the sword too fast for even the trained eye to see. Gin and Naruto then resumed their strikes back on the ground. After a few thousand blocks and slashes, Naruto and Gin came to a standstill, their swords crossing each others. Naruto then pushed Gin back, launching him into a wall. Taking a deep breath, Naruto raised his Zanpakuto before bringing it down, the force of the strike leaving a crevase on the ground. The strike destroyed the building Gin was knocked into but when Naruto disappeared and reappeared in front of it, Gin was nowhere to be found.

"Tch." Naruto let out, annoyance evident on his face.

Ichigo and his group, after healing Jidanbo and leaving him the care of the people of the Rukongai district, came face-to-face with the "Self-Proclaimed #1 Shinigami Hater" Ganju Shiba. Ganju was a tall muscular man with chin-length black hair and was partially missing his left eyebrow. He wore a vest, scarf, bandanna and pair of goggles.

"Get outta here, dandelion head! As long as I'm alive, I ain't letting any Shinigami scum set foot in West Rukongai- oof!"

Before Ganju could keep rambling on, Ichigo raised himself on his arm and launched a kick to Ganju's face. Elsewhere, a certain blond haired, blue eyed Shinigami was watching the fight take place from a distance and after seeing Ichigo launch that kick the way he did, Naruto raised his brow in interest.

"Damn! Quit it already, will ya?" An annoyed Ichigo said. "If it's a fight you want, I'll take ya on."

"Bastard! You punched my handsome face not _once_, but _twice _!" Ganju yelled while holding his nose.

"I kicked you the second time around." Ichigo retorted. "Dumbass."

"Stop it Ichigo! Don't waste your energy on meaningless fights." Yoruichi warned.

Ichigo motioned his head towards Ganju before replying, "He started it. If you want us to stop, tell it to him."

Yoruichi merely clicked his tongue in frustration. '_Foolish kid! Getting worked up over something so trivial._'

"Seems like this fight between you and I was destined to take place." Ganju remarked. He then reached behind his back and pulled out a small sword that resembled a meat cleaver.

"Ganju!" An old man, whom Ichigo and his friends were conversing with prior to the fight, cried. "Stop it! He is not a bad Shinigami!"

Ganju turned his head over his shoulder to face the old man. "Can it old man! A Shinigami is a Shinigami!" Ganju eyes, the elder saw, held great anger and sorrow as he said these words. "There is no good or bad."

"Ganju..."

"Let's do this!" Ganju then rushed towards Ichigo, intent on attacking him.

"Damn!" Ishida Uryuu, one of Ichigo's teammates, exclaimed. "Kurasaki doesn't have his Zanpakuto!"

But Chad, another one of Ichigo's comrades whom was wearing a sleeveless shirt and on his shoulder was a heart with a snake and angels around it that said Amore e Morte ('love and death' in Italian), wore brown pants and was really quite a big muscular fellow standing over 6', had brown skin, pronounced cheek bones and brown wavy hair covering his eyes , came to the rescue, launching Zangetsu, Ichigo's Zanpakuto, towards him. Ichigo caught it, expressing his gratitude before unwrapping the cloth surrounding the blade, without actually using his hands to do so, strangely enough and prepared to defend himself against his opponent. From afar, Naruto watched the fight unfold, examining and analysing Ichigo's every move.

'_He has talent.'_

**"He ain't bad." **Kurama remarked.

Naruto witnessed Ganju, after Ichigo and him clashed swords, sink Ichigo's Zanpakuto into the ground. Naruto narrowed his eyes. '_That technique... I've seen that before.'_'

He watched in amusement as, after a clock on his henchmen's back started went off, Ganju fell on his face just as he was about to attack Ichigo.

"Shit! What time is it?!" Ganju exclaimed, recovering from his fall as if nothing happened, though his face had burn marks and a bloody nose.

"Bad news aniki! It's already 9!"

After hearing this, Ganju's face paled. "Oh no!" Ganju then put his fingers and whistled. "Come on, Bonnie-chan!"

"Huh?" Uttered a puzzled Ichigo. "Bonnie?"

As if on cue, a giant boar wearing a pink ribbon jumped over Ichigo's head. The boar landed in front of Ganju, with the impact of the landing launching Ganju back several yards. Ganju rose up from the ground, before smiling at his boar. "Good girl! But we don't have time today! Hurry up and lemme ride you!"

Naruto could swear he just saw a glint of murderous intent in the boar's eyes, before it decided to comply by rushing over to its owner, knocking the man clear in the air and onto its back.

"Hold it! You're running away?!" Ichigo yelled.

Ganju, now on his boar, yelled back in retort, " Who's running away?! Don't you dare think this is over, dandelion! I'll be back to finish this tomorrow! Don't you float away til then!"

Irked by that statement, Ichigo stepped forward and pointed his finger towards the retreating Ganju. "The hell?! That's MY-!" But before Ichigo could finish he was being trampled half to death by Ganju's henchmen, who were also on boars.

With that, the men left. Ichigo rose from the ground, annoyed. "What the hell!"

Naruto chuckled at Ichigo's antics, his mannerisms reminding Naruto somewhat of his own.

"How long are you gonna keep watching us?" A voice spoke out from behind.

Without turning away or reacting for that matter, Naruto replied, "It's been a while.. Yoruichi."

Yoruichi walked up next Naruto. "We could use your help."

"With what?"

"That orange-haired boy over there, Ichigo Kurosaki, wants to save Rukia."

"Kurosaki? Well, well, well... That explains a lot. And what convenient timing."

"What do you mean?"

Naruto stood up, allowing his coat to flow in the wind. "See... I was just thinking of saving poor Rukia-chan myself."

"I would expect as much from you."

"That guy that kid was fighting earlier.. who was he?"

"Ganju Shiba."

"Shiba, huh? I see. So you're looking for Kukaku then?"

"Yes. The elder we were conversing with before the fight ensued seemed to know a way to get there." Yoruichi then focused on the group, watching as they tried to calm a still livid Ichigo down.

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I'll see you there."

"Wait, you know where she-" But before Yoruichi could finish the sentence, he saw that Naruto was already gone. "Tch!" Yoruichi uttered in annoyance. "I hate it when he does that."

The next morning, an initially reluctant Ichigo, whom actually wanted to wait for Ganju before being convinced to leave, and his friends trekked to Kukaku Shiba's house using the map they obtained from the old man. The group traveled over a hill, and what met the eye was... a little too much. Two huge statued arms stood out in front of the house, with the two index fingers pointing upwards and a banner that said 'Kukaku Shiba'. The house itself seemed normal enough except for a huge chimney-like structure that seemed way too big for the house. After pulling themselves together, Ichigo and Ishida and the group started for the house but were stopped by two men. Both were wearing red hats with a gold trim and a white tassel on top and light blue scarfs tied at the front by a red fastener with gold highlights. The man on the left was wearing a yellow shirt, while the man on the right was wearing a white shirt. They seemed to be twins, with the only physical difference between them was that the one on the left had a broad face and split chin, while the other had a long face and a normal chin.

"Hold!" The man on the left commanded. "You are trespassing on Kukaku-sama's territory!"

But before their announcement could finish, the men noticed a black feline walking in front of the group. The men recognized him at once.

"Yoruichi-sama!"

After this was cleared up, the man who was on the left led the group into the house downstairs.

"Forgive our impudence, Yoruichi-sama. We did not know these were your associates."

'_We're not his associates.'_ Was the collective thought that ran throughout the 'associates' ' minds.

"It's fine," Yoruichi reassured. "I should've let you know ahead of time that we were on our way."

The man then sat down near a Japanese door, before pulling it open, allowing them entry.

The group entered inside and were shocked to see that instead of a man, the head of the Shiba clan was a woman. Kukaku seemed quite like a youthful-woman and even though she was seated (in quite an unlady-like fashion), it seemed like she would be of average height. She had green eyes and wore bandages over her long messy black

hair that parted down in half at the small of her back. She was wearing a white skirt and sultry red robe exposing her, erhm, how you say... big bazongas or at least most of its cleavage anyway. She was missing her right arm and in its place was a thin wooden one and she also had a tattoo on her left arm. She wore bandages around her right shoulder and both ankles. She also had wooden sandals and a cloak.

"Yo!" The fiery woman greeted.

After the introductions were out of the way, Kukaku stood up to introduce the assistant that would be aiding them. Kukaku opened a door to revealed a formally dressed man on his knees with his head bowed respectfully.

"Hello! My name is Ganju Shiba!" Ganju then raised his head. "A pleasure to meet..."

Then his eyes fell on Ichigo and Ichigo's eyes fell on him. Then all hell broke loose. Ichigo and Ganju went at it, destroying Kukaku's home and her pipe, inciting her to rage and causing her to deliver a fiery punch of fury on the ground that incinerated her entire home.

"Dumbasses!" Kukaku shouted as she stomped on their crisped heads.

"Oy, oy, oy! This a bad time?"

Everybody turned to the owner of the voice, revealing it to be Naruto standing at the burned door entryway with his hands in his pockets and nonchalant look on his face. Kukaku's, Ganju's, Ichigo's and his group's eyes widened in recognition and the two guardsmen bowed their heads immediately in respect. Yoruichi was the only one with no reaction.

"Y-you!" Ichigo uttered.

"Yo. Ichigo, right?"

"Naruto-san!" Ganju exclaimed happily.

"Yo Ganju! Been awhile, eh?"

Kukaku walked up to him with an irritated look on her face. "Uzumaki."

"Kukaku-chan. Still not bitter are you?"

"Nah." Kukaku then kneed Naruto in his special place. "I got over it just now."

After watching Naruto collapse to the ground like a rag doll, Ichigo crawled over to Ganju and whispered, "Your sister is scary as hell."

"I know." Ganju whispered back.

"Hey idiots!" Kukaku called out. "Get up! We got work to do!"

A.N. - Alright, another chapter knocked out. Sorry for the grammar mistakes as I was trying to get this out in a hurry. I'll make sure to check it later on and update it as needed. Also, if it seems like there may be some unexplained plot holes, be patient as everything will become clear in later chapters. Also, please review as it makes every author happy. Until then seeya next time.

Green out.


	5. Chapter 4: Unleash Your Fangs

Chapter 4: Unleash Your Fangs

After destroying her house, scolding Ichigo and Ganju, and destroying Naruto's man-berries, Kukaku led everybody outside and what met their eyes was the huge chimney that they saw before entering the house.

"What is that?" Ishida asked.

"That's how yer gettin' in Seireitei."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm gonna fire you guys outta of it and yer gonna land straight in the capital."

"Are you crazy?!" Ishida yelled.

Ichigo quickly pulled him to the side. "Ishida... you don't want to do that."

"Crazy? Course I am. My name's Kukaku Shiba. Rukongai's best pyrotechnic!"

"So you're just gonna shoot us out in a cannon and hope for the best?" Naruto asked.

"Of course not." Kukaku then threw the ball at Ishida's face, the ball bouncing off it and landing in Ichigo's hands. "Concentrate yer reiatsu into that."

"Oh alright," Ichigo then pressed his hands on it real hard. "Hoooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!... How do I do that?"

Kukaku face deadpanned. "The hell? You don't know how to control yer reiatsu? Aren't you a Shinigami?"

"Erhm." Yoruichi cut in. "He's not actually a Shinigami in the normal sense. He's only had his power for a little awhile."

"Tch! Well that's fine. Ganju!"

"Yes ma'am!" Ganju responded dutifully.

"Lead these guys to the training room. I'll send Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko down to help you out. Me, Naruto and Yoruichi gotta talk."

"Yes ma'am!" With that, the group left.

"Now that the kiddies have left, it gives us time for us grown ups to talk." Kukaku said, as she sat down.

"Naruto, what's going in Seireitei? Everything that's been going on seems off somehow." Yoruichi questioned.

"I don't know. I talked to the old man but it didn't seem right. I feel like there's someone behind the scenes pulling the strings."

"Any idea who?" Kukaku asked.

"A few." Naruto then closed his eyes and scratched his head casually. "But there's no real way to be sure."

"By the way Naruto, is your division going to be okay without you?"

"Hm? Well, yeah, they're pretty self-sufficient. I hardly ever lead em and I spend most of time here so.."

Sweat dropped from both Yoruichi and Kukaku as they collectively thought, '_So irresponsible._'

"By the way, Kukaku..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are you really alright with this? Helping us Shinigami out?"

"Heh.." Kukaku replied half-heartedly. "You know he'd scold me if I didn't."

"I'm sorry about your arm."

"You always are."

"Erhm," Yoruichi cut in. "Not that I mean to break this up, but there's a huge amount of reiatsu being generated downstairs."

Kukaku's eyes widened. She got up and immediately ran to the training room. Out in the hall, she saw Ganju sitting there, shock written all over his face.

"Ganju!" Kukaku demanded. "What the hell happened?"

"Sorry nee-chan... I only gave him a tip..."

Kukaku then slid open the door and what met her eyes stunned her. Ichigo, who a minute ago had no idea how to even spell reiatsu, was about to blow her house up (again). Ichigo was surrounded by a huge unstable ball of spiritual energy, that looked ready to explode if Ichigo kept pouring reiatsu into it the way he was.

"Kurosaki you idiot!" Naruto yelled. "Tone down the amount of reiatsu you're pouring into that!"

"R-right!" Ichigo replied, lowering the amount of reiatsu he was pumping into the orb. Eventually, after a little focus, the ball of reiatsu shrunk into a calm transparent sphere of protection.

"Ichigo-kun! You did it!" Orihime Inoue, another one of Ichigo's teammates, congratulated.

"Yeah!" Ichigo replied enthusiastically.

"Idiot!" Shukaku yelled. "Don't lose your focus!"

"Huh?" Ichigo stated in dumbfound expression. But it was already too late. The sphere exploded, leaving a giant hole in the floor as a result. While Kukaku pummelled Ichigo to a pulp, Orihime smiled softly Ichigo, relieved, overjoyed and proud of the fact that he managed to accomplish the task. Naruto, noticing this, smiled to himself as he realized the situation. After this exercise was completed, the group then returned to the room where the cannon was.

"Well then!" Kukaku started. "Now then all the late-bloomers have caught up," Ichigo looked noticeably irked by that statement. "We can now move on to step two."

"Oh yeah, Yoruichi-san," Ichigo spoke up. "Can you do this too?"

"Well, I've never done this before so let's see if I can." Yoruichi walked over to the orb and jumped on top of it. Not a moment later did a perfectly round ball of reiastu formed around that dark-colored feline. Ichigo, once again, looked extremely annoyed.

"What's the matter?" Yoruichi teased. "Are you depressed that something which took you such time and effort to complete took mere seconds for me to master?"

Ichigo opted not to reply to that.

"Now that we've established that," Kukaku chimed in. "Let's get you guys blasted into the sky. Where's Ganju?"

"Wait!" cried Ganju, arriving on the scene as if on cue. "The hero always arrives late!"

"The hell's with that getup?" A deadpanned Ichigo asked.

Ganju was wearing similar attire from their meeting before but it seemed upgraded as he now wore armored gauntlets and combat boots and his sword, instead of being on his back, was on his left hip instead. "This is Ganju's battle suit! Badass, ain't it? I ain't givin' it to ya even if ya beg and cry!"

"Battle suit?" Ichigo questioned. "Even though you're just seeing us off?"

At this, Ganju's demeanour became serious. He walked towards Ichigo before getting in his face and out of nowhere saying, "My big brother was killed by a Shinigami."

The group's face turned into one of shock and surprise, with the exception of Naruto, who lowered his face until his hair shadowed his eyes. Upon hearing her brother's words, Kukaku rose slightly from where she was sitting. "Damnit Ganju!"

"Shut up and listen!" Ganju shouted, the tone in his voice expressing the intensity of what he was trying to say. Upon hearing his tone, Kukaku actually stayed quiet. Somewhere, in a galaxy far, far away on the planet of an alternate Earth... Hell froze over. But in the current dimension in the present time, Ganju returned his attention to Ichigo before continuing.

"My brother... was a genius. He was accepted by the Shinigami institute on his first try and by that point, his reiatsu level was 6. That was the equivalent of a junior adjutant class of Shinigami Thirteen Court Squads. He graduated from the 6 six year curriculum in a year and became part of an actual squad and in 5 years, he made lieutenant. But then he was killed! He was betrayed by the Shinigami whom he trusted with his life! I was only a kid back then so I don't remember the details. But there's two things I'll NEVER forget! Faces! Two of em! A demon like face of the Shinigami that dragged my brother's beaten body home.. and the face of my brother expressing gratitude to that Shinigami and telling that Shinigami to pass on that gratitude to someone else as well." Ganju now looked at the ground as he recalled these memories. "Why'd he thank them? Why was he's so happy? I don't have any answers to these questions. But there's one thing I do know... He didn't despise Shinigamis. He didn't hate them."

"I never knew the boss held so much pain inside." Commented one of Ganju's henchmen, whom were all eavesdropping behind a wall.

Ganju then raised his head and his eyes met Ichigo's. "Why?! Why didn't he hate them?! Why'd he keep believing in em?!" Ganju then grabbed Ichigo's kimino roughly and pulled him close. "You're not like the other Shinigami. That's the feeling I get. I feel like if I go with you, I'll figure something out. So I'm gonna help you out! I'm going on the battlefield so I can see for myself what a REALShinigami is like." After finally ending his speech, Ganju then pushed Ichigo back just as roughly as he grabbed him.

"Boss... you're so cool!" Said one of his teary-eyed henchmen.

"Ganju-dono... you've grown up so fast!" Commented an also teary eyed guardsman, now identified as Shiroganehiko and the other being Koganehiko.

"Heh!" Kukaku let out. "Seems like he made up his mind."

Ichigo stared at Ganju for a few moments before grabbing him by his collar roughly. "Glad to have you along." Ganju smirked at him. "Asshole..." Ichigo then pushed Ganju back, similar to how it was just done to him.

"Is everyone ready now?" Yoruichi asked.

"Yeah!" The group replied collectively.

After the group was inside the cannon, they all recalled Kukaku's words, "_Listen up, this orb depends completely on the collective concentration between all of you. If one of ya pumps too much reiatsu, the ball becomes unstable and explodes midway and if you pump too little... well, the ball still explodes."_

Outside, Kukaku commenced the preparations by pouring gunpowder around the pillar. Inside, Yoruichi discussed tactics with the team. "Listen," Yoruichi started. "As soon as we get in Seireitei, stay together. Do **not** split up no matter what." Yoruichi then looked at the teens. "If you encounter a captain, run without thinking twice about it." Yoruichi then added Naruto to his field of vision. "Do not, under any circumstances, take stupid risks. After all, our goal is Rukia."

Outside, Kukaku continued with the procedure. She took a moment before reaching behind her back and pulling out a red handled sword and embedding it into the ground.

"Beyond! Bronze colored greed desires thirty six degrees of control!"

"It's started! Pour in your spiritual power!" Yoruichi shouted. The next minute, a protective orb surrounded the group.

"Seventy two pairs of illusions!" Kukaku continued. She then stepped forward. "Thirteen

pairs of hornflutes!" Kukaku then unwrapped the bandage around her head and wrapped it around her arm. "The right hand of the Monkey..." Her arm then became lit aflame. "..grasps the Stars!" Kukaku then punched the ground and ring she made around the cannon lit aflame as well. "Embraced by the twenty-five suns, the cradle of sand will spill with blood." The flame then proceeded upward the pillar-like cannon. "Kukaku Fire Method No. 2 - Kanazaki!" The cannon then shot them out into the air, launching them towards Seireitei.

"It was a success!" Exclaimed Shiroganehiko.

"You've done it, Kukaku-dono!" Koganehiko congratulated.

Kukaku, however, didn't hear them. She simply stared solemnly towards the sky and whispered under her breath, "Be safe and come back to me... Ganju."

In the air, the group was still pretty calm and was able to keep the ball intact without too much trouble.

"Huh," Ichigo commented. "There wasn't as much impact as I thought there'd be."

"Stupid," Ganju retorted. "This is only the beginning."

True to his words, the ball then stopped suddenly before launching itself towards its destination, almost like a rollercoaster. Acting fast, Ganju reached into his robe and pulled out a book. Noticing this, Ichigo questioned, "What's that?"

"The continuation spell." Ganju replied. "The Kukaku Firing Method No. 2 is a two-part chant. The time for launch until choosing the direction is controlled by the beginning spell, and after that, acceleration and trajectory adjustments are controlled by the continuation spell. That way, you bring up the accuracy for each. If you don't wanna die breaking in there, don't bother me!"

"Listen!" Naruto cut in. "We need to do what Kukaku said and regulate the emission of our reiatsu. We can feel the degree of each other's emission so we need to make sure to match each other. Understood?"

After receiving affirmatives, Ganju then nodded at Naruto. "Right. I'm counting on you."

As Ganju recited the chant, Orihime spoke up to Ichigo, "Ichigo-kun! That's a bit too much."

'_Heh! Blushing like a schoolgirl_.' Naruto mentally commented.

"Really?" Ichigo replied. "S-sorry."

**"Just as much as an oblivious idiot as you still are." Kurama said.**

'_Shut up!_''

"Kurosaki!" Ishida shouted. "Lower it some more!"

"I already decreased it a bunch!"

"Ichigo.." Chad started it.

"Aw come on!"

"Kurosaki!" Naruto cut in. "Decrease it some more!"

"I know! I'm decreasing it, damn it! Just get me a moment!"

Ganju then stopped his chant, realizing something dreadful. "You asshole!" Ganju yelled. "You made me read the same line twice!"

"The hell, damn it?! That's my fault too?!"

"You were yelling and screaming and ya made me lose my concentration, dumbass!"

The two then literally clashed heads.

"Please stop that, Ichigo-kun, Ganju-kun!" Orihime implored. "This isn't the time for that!"

"She's right!" Ishida agreed. "Quit that!"

"Quit fighting and focus, you suicidal dumbasses!" Naruto shouted.

"Both of you, stop that!" Shouted Orihime.

Chad took a glance at the direction they were flying in and saw their destination. "Guys... look."

The group then also looked at their direction. "Seireitei!" said Ganju.

Down below, Seireitei had the alarm set off.

"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! INTRUDERS SIGHTED! INTRUDERS HAVE BEEN SIGHTED IN SEIREITEI! ALL SQUADS PLEASE TAKE YOUR DEFENSIVE POSITIONS! REPEAT..."

In the Captains Meeting Chamber, where all the captains of all squads were assembled, the captains, had various reactions. One of them, a tall monstrous looking fellow, ran out of the chamber after being dismissed by the Captain-Commander. Running through the buildings, the monstrous Shinigami, jumped on top of a building and witnessed what all the other Shinigami saw - a giant ball hitting Seireitei's wall of defense. Inside the ball, the group were struggling to keep it intact. However, despite their efforts, the ball exploded and the group were sent into a whirling vortex of spiritual energy.

"Stay together!" Yoruichi yelled. "This vortex will blow us all into separate directions if we don't grab ahold of each other!"

Working fast, Ganju and Ichigo reluctantly grabbed each other, Chad grabbed Ishida, Naruto and Orihime grabbed each other and Yoruichi jumped on Ichigo's each shoulder.

"I'm borrowing your shoulder!" Yoruichi said, as he hoped on.

Ishida, however, slipped off of Chad's shoulder and fell towards the ground. Chad turned back to him, grabbed him and threw him towards Naruto and Orihime. Naruto caught him and had Orihime hold onto him, and then diving towards Chad, and throwing him upwards into the vortex, allowing himself to fall down instead. Seeing this, Yoruichi's eyes widened.

"No!" Yoruichi then jumped towards Naruto.

"Yoruichi-san!" Yelled Ichigo. Seeing Orihime reaching towards him, Ichigo turned towards her as well, desperately trying to connect with her. "Damn it!"

Seeing Yoruichi diving after him, Naruto expressed his annoyance of this act as soon as he grabbed him and brought him to his chest. "Damn it Yoruichi! You should've stayed with the group!" They had no time to discuss this however, because as soon as Naruto caught the black feline, the vortex sent them in directions. Down below, the Shinigami who were witnessing it saw it split up into five different directions. The captain Kenpachi Zaraki, looked at the directions that they split up wildly.

"Which one?!" He questioned, bloodthirst practically dripping from his voice. "Which one is the strongest?!"

The 'strongest' along with his feline partner, recovered from the shock of being shot off in mid-air, while alerting some low-class Shinigami in the process, and therefore managed to land gracefully on a roof after disappearing from their sight in mid-air. Yoruichi and Naruto watched as the Shinigami ran around throughout Seireitei looking for the 'ryoka'.

"You should've stayed with them. They'd need you." Naruto spoke up.

"Eh. I just moved on impulse. For now, let's stick-"

"Well, well, what have we here?" A mysterious voice rang out.

Naruto turned around sharply to see a sword being swung towards his face. Naruto's quick reflexes kicked in just in time and he was therefore able to duck it and jump back all the way to another rooftop across from the one they were already in. Naruto raised his head to see his assailant.

"Tosen..."

"Uzumaki-dono." The mysterious Shinigami known as Tosen respectfully addressed.

"Yoruichi! I want you to ru-" However, much to his shock and Kurama's amusement, Yoruichi had long since left. Refraining from yelling to the heavens, Naruto simply looked across towards his opponent. Kaname Tosen. Captain of the 9th Squad. Tōsen stood at about 5'9, had dark skin and dark brown braids. He had pupil-less eyes that are a pale lavender, reminding Naruto of a certain someone, and were blind. He wore the traditional Shinigami uniform with the sleeves rolled up to the shoulders and his captain's

haori over it; the uniform was tied with a purple obi sash. He was also wearing an orange scarf around his neck, white boots (instead of the normal sandals), and black, fingerless gloves. He was wearing clear goggles and his hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"What are you doing here, Tosen?"

"Uzuamki-dono.. your statement to the Head Captain and your actions towards Ichimaru has sealed your fate. Alongside the ryoka, your capture has been mandated to all the Gotei 13 Squads. I'm here to fulfill my duty."

At this, Naruto smirked. "Heh.. Funny. You think you're strong enough to take me on?"

"I know that you cannot hope to defeat me without releasing your Shikai."

"Heh! Fair 'nuff." Naruto reached behind his back and pulled out his sword in the reverse position. Naruto pointed it towards Tosen, while keeping his arm bent towards himself and placing his other arm in front of his face in a claw-like position. His hand covered his right eye and his remaining unconcealed eye looked fierce. His legs were bent and his stance indicated that he was ready. Naruto then took a deep breath before shouting at the top of his lungs, "UNLEASH YOUR FANGS... **KURAMA!**"

A.N. - Whew! Okay, another chapter done. Any grammar mistakes will be fixed later on. Sorry for the lack of action so far but the next chapter will be full of it so stay tuned. Also, if it seems like Naruto isn't contributing much to the story so far, don't fret. It'll all become clear in future chapters. Until then, please review and lemme know whatcha think and what I can do to improve, things I could do more of, less of, etc. Read, enjoy, and do all that other great stuff.

Green out.


	6. Chapter 5: Bloodshed

Chapter 5: Bloodshed

"UNLEASH YOUR FANGS... **KURAMA!**"

An aura of red started spiraling around Naruto, the color becoming more orange by the second. A moment later, Naruto was enveloped in this huge fox-like body of pure chakra. His clothes themselves were bathed in the orange chakra, a cloak of some sort. That chakra wisped off of him, like flickering flames. Naruto's 'clothes' consisted of an orange coat on his back that reached his calves and that had black stripes on its back and was black in its inside as well and a black circle with orange swirls in its middle that resembled a whirlpool was on the coats back. His entire upper body under the coat was black and the pants were orange alongside his sandals as well. His gauntlets were still black, but in the middle of the back was the black-n-orange swirl. The whiskers on his face were replaced by black rectangles and his eyes turned red with his irises in turn thinning into slits. In his hand was a sword, the blade also orange and surrounding the hilt was small black balls orbiting around it. The fox that Naruto was currently inside was extremely large, almost as big as a small mountain and could be seen throughout most of Seireitei. The fox's whiskers were very thick, and circular markings appeared on its shoulders, stomach, as well as the front and back of its paws. Lines also ran down its spine, arms, legs and its nine tails.

Naruto then addressed his opponent. "**Happy now?**"

Naruto left the man no time to reply however, as Naruto immediately dissipated his giant fox shroud and instantly disappeared above Tosen before launching a red-tainted wind slash towards him. Tosen shunpo-ed away, allowing the building under him to be completely obliterated. Naruto turned his head over slightly, viewing out the corner of his eye where he knew the Shinigami was going to be.

Tosen raised his palm in Naruto's direction. ""Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless

wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado #33 - Sokatsui!"

A beam of energy shot towards Naruto, but Naruto simply disappeared, effectively dodging the attack. Naruto then reappeared above Tosen with a rotating ball of energy with spinning blades connected to it, resembling a shuriken somewhat. The ball was black while the blades themselves were a dark red. Naruto immediately launched the ball of death towards Tosen, the impact from it causing a huge black and red explosion. Tosen, rising from the residue, had sustained some damage to his coat and kimino but was otherwise unscathed.

"How long are you gonna hold out before you unleash your Shikai, Tosen?" Naruto taunted. "I'm just playin' around. If you keep holdin' back on me, I'll kill ya."

Deciding to comply, Tosen raised his Zanpakuto. "Cry... Suzumushi." Tosen then continued by announcing his technique, "Suzumushi Nishiki: Benihiko!"

Tosen then swung his sword in a semi-circle around himself, leaving a barely visible trail of light. Not a second later did about a hundred blades start to materialize and hurl themselves towards Naruto.

Naruto sighed. **"He doesn't seem to believe you." **Kurama commented.

'_Then let me show him.._' Naruto then put the hilt of his sword into his mouth and held it there with his teeth before raising both his arms, spreading them far apart from each other. '.._how serious I am!_'' Naruto then clapped his hands and the resounding shock completely obliterated the blades and created large holes within a few buildings, as if a giant took a bite out of them.

Tosen's eyes widened as he saw this but as soon as he blinked, Naruto was gone. Tosen looked wildly for any sign of him but was too late in reacting to the powerful kick that was launched into his stomach. Tosen was sent flying back, crashing into a wall.

Tosen reeled from the attack, struggling to raise his head only for his blind eyes to meet the tip of Naruto's blade. "Quit it Kaname. I don't wanna do this. Just back off and we can-"

"Shoot 'im dead, Shinso!" Naruto eyes widened as he saw a blade shooting towards him. Naruto managed to dodge it in time however but the strike managed to cut off his headband. He then jumped back and faced his new opponent. There stood Gin Ichimaru with his short sword aimed at Naruto and that eerie smile on his face. Tosen took this moment to stand up and pick up Naruto's headband.

"This is seems like quite a predicament ya have here, Tosen."

"Ichimaru.. What are you doing here?"

"I got some unfinished business to settle. Ya welcome to stay 'n' watch if ya like."

"No... this is my fight."

"Hey assholes!" Naruto cut in. "I'm right here! If you guys want to fight, then fight me together." Naruto then sheathed his sword, which in turn caused his cloak to disappear. "Unleash your bankai... and bring it on!"

Elsewhere, the scattered group sensed (and saw parts of) the fight that was currently taking place.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked his current associate.

"Naruto-san is squaring off with somebody." Ganju replied.

"That guy.. Naruto.. how strong is he?" Ichigo asked as he sat above a pile of low-rank Shinigami that they just beat up.

"Naruto-san... is so strong that it's just... scary. I've never encountered a being that matched his power... whoever's fighting against Naruto-san.. I feel sorry for 'em."

Yoruichi, atop a small building, looked back in the direction in which he left Naruto in. '_Tosen and Ichimaru? That's an unlikely team-up... something is definitely going on._' Yoruichi then looked around Seireitei, sensing the various conflict. '_Stay alive.. all of you._'

Ishida and Orihime sensed the battle going on between the three Shinigami as well.

"Ishida-kun..."

"Yeah..."

"Will Uzumaki-san be alright?"

"I sensed the spiritual pressure from that guy... it was subtle but the amount he seemed to be suppressing was... monstrous."

Chad, navigating through the maze-like capital of Soul Society, sensed the the battle as well. '_Good luck.. Naruto-san._'

Back on the battlefield with the three combatants, Naruto was currently staring the two men down with a confident smile on his face.

"Undoing your shikai?" Tosen asked. "You can't possibly be that overconfident."

"Heh! Oh, but I am. You release your bankais and I'll show you somethin' pretty neat."

"Ho? And what might that be?" Asked Gin.

Naruto simply smiled before placing his knuckles together and shutting his eyes. "Sage mode - Level 3!"

The area around Naruto's eyes changed with an orange shade stretching from his eyes towards his ear, a yellow shade above that shade stretching towards his temple, and a red shade below the orange shade stretching towards his cheek. His eyes were a mixed range of red, orange and yellow and the iris itself became a rectangular shape.

Tosen and Gin, to their credit, were reactionless. "Sage mode?" Gin questioned. "Is that the name of some hermit's group?"

Naruto simply raised his arm, bent it, took a step back, bent his leg and entered a stance. The red shade started to glow and as soon as it did, did Naruto throw his jab into the air. Gin's eyes widened. The punch caused a shockwave that destroyed the entire street that the two Captains were standing. Fortunately for them, they managed to jump away in time.

"What was that?!" Tosen demanded.

"Sage Mode..." Naruto then appeared behind Tosen with his yellow shade being lighted this time. "..bitch."

Naruto then delivered a slash across Tosen's back. Coming to Tosen's defense, Gin quickly shot his Zanpakuto towards Naruto's face. Naruto raised his head with the orange shade glowing and stuck his hand out to grab the blade. Gin's eyes once again opened. Naruto winked at him, before grounding himself, spinning around and throwing Gin into another building. Tosen attempted to strike Naruto's neck with his Zanpakuto but Naruto sidestepped it and, without any shades lighted this time, stuck his finger towards Tosen's forehead and flicked his finger, sending him back yards away into a upheaved rock that was raised from the debris due to Naruto's punch.

"I'm tellin' ya right now boys. If ya wanna beat me, you better unleash your bankai. I ain't screwin' around. Get up or get out of my way."

Tosen rose out of the debris and held up his sword in his right hand, and placed his left palm against the ring on his cross guard. "Bankai." The ring began to spin as it released spiritual energy. As it spun faster, the circle grew bigger and bigger until it was large enough to surround his entire body. The ring then split into ten other glowing rings of similar size that encircled Tosen. With a slash of his sword, the circles went flying outwards and formed a circular perimeter over the area. Once they were in position, the ten rings began to generate a black void, which grew in size until it formed a large black dome, which centered around Tosen's body and was anchored to the ground by the ten rings.

"Mumyo." Naruto, encased within the dome, soon found himself unable to hear, see, smell, and he couldn't even feel his spiritual energy.

"Mumyo... in this dome, you will neither be able to attack nor defend. You are in my dimension now." Tosen declared.

'_Kurama._'

**"Yeah."**

"It's time.. to finish this!" Tosen went in to strike Naruto in the chest but at the last moment, Naruto kicked the sword out of his hand. Tosen gasped in surprise.

"No!" He exclaimed.

Naruto then held his arms out and tilted his head back. Red swirls of energy started shooting out of Naruto as a red aura started to glow around his figure. His eyes turned red and irises became as thin as needles. "Haaaaaaa**aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!**"

The dome then started to crack like glass before shattering and dissipating into the air. Tosen was shocked. "H-how did you..?"

"Sorry. I don't kiss and tell." Naruto then delivered a punch to Tosen's gut, causing him to double over and spew blood.

"Bankai. Kill, Kamishini no yari." Naruto quickly dodged that attack, his Level 3 Sage Mode activated once more, and his yellow shade glowing. Naruto narrowed his eyes at his next opponent. Gin stood with his sword pointed towards Naruto, still with that snake-like smile on his face.

'_Damn._' Naruto thought. '_This one ain't gonna be as easy. I gotta be careful._'

Naruto allowed his coat to flow off of his back and into the air onto a tree branch nearby. Naruto then reached behind his back and pulled out his Zanpakuto, holding it in the reverse position. Gin then shunpo-ed into the air, shooting the his sword at Naruto's position. Naruto managed to disappear as well, allowing the attack to cause a crater in the ground. Naruto then appeared in the air, holding the hilt of his sword in his mouth, crossing his first two fingers on both his hands in a cross. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" After shouting, in a muffled-manner, these words, 10 Narutos then poofed into the air, all of them taking the sword of out of their mouths and once again preparing to attack. Gin wasn't fazed however, as he simply placed the hilt of his sword on his chest and said, "Buto: Renjin." The sword started shooting out at extreme speeds, almost completely invisible. The sword took out all of Naruto's clones and managed to nick Naruto's shirt. Naruto's yellow shade glowed near white, and he started moving at speeds nearly matching the sword's. Gin then started to move around at fast speeds as well, which made the sword direction even more unpredictable. Naruto clicked his tongue.

'_Damn it! If it wasn't for this Sage Mode, I wouldn't be able to sense this sword. I'd be dead by now. I have to do something!_"

Gin then suddenly appeared in front of Naruto, and point-blank shot off his sword. Amazingly, Naruto, within that split second, disappeared but not before his eyes became red and a slit appeared through the rectangle iris in his eye, making a cross-like shape. Naruto, after successfully managing to dodge the attack, reappeared on of the last few surviving rooftops within their area that managed to not get destroyed while breathing heavily and without his glow.

Gin then took the hilt of the sword of his chest and looked down at Naruto's figure from the sky with his eyes actually open.

"That wasn't shunpo." Gin called out.

Still panting slightly, Naruto looked back at Gin with a smirk. "Finally noticed it, eh? Not bad."

"No shunpo would allow you to move that fast."

"Yeah... I have no clue how to do shunpo. See here?" Naruto lifted his leg up in the air, showing Gin the bottom of his sandal. Suddenly, glowing Japanese letters started to appear.

"The Flying Thunder God Jutsu?" Gin questioned.

Naruto then put his foot down. "It took a long time to master. To even learn the fundamentals was a huge pain in the ass. But after I learned how to do it, I figured out how to upgrade the technique. All I have to do is surround myself in a huge sphere of invisible energy and in that sphere, I can shift through space anywhere within that sphere. That move is 10x faster than shunpo at its top power."

"I see." Gin responded. "That just means..." His eyes returned to slits and his smile crept back onto his face. "I'll have to go at my top power as well!" Gin then placed the hilt of his sword back on his face and reactivated his technique. Naruto, with his Nine-Tails Level 3 Sage Mode still on and his yellow shade glowing once more, narrowed his eyes and disappeared using the Flying Thunder God Jutsu.

"**Naruto!**" Kurama mentally shouted. "**We won't be able to keep this up for long. You have to finish this now!**"

'_I know, damn it!_''

Dodging the myriad of attacks, Naruto struggled to find an opening. Naruto then shouted to Kurama mentally, '_Kurama! I'm depending on you!_''

"**What're you thinking brat?!**"

Naruto then shifted at high speeds towards the offensive Gin, dodging the sword attacks. Naruto wasn't fast enough, however, because as soon as he got close enough to strike, Gin managed to impale him straight through the stomach. After being impaled, Naruto looked up towards Gin with a smirk on his face, blood sliding down from the corner of his mouth and his orange shade now glowing near-white as well. Gin's eyes reopened with shock on his face and a frown replacing his smile as he realized that after impaling Naruto, his sword didn't retract. A red aura started appearing around Naruto, with bubbly, searing red hot chakra starting to surround the blade. It quickly traveled down to Gin, before encasing and trapping him in it. Naruto, while still being impaled, pushed his body further down the blade and delivered a powerful slash across Gin's body. This slash was powerful enough to knock him into the ground, creating a crater and effectively drive him into unconsciousness. Naruto then allowed Kurama's chakra to disappear, which allowed Gin's Zanpakuto to retract and return to its original size. Naruto then grabbed the Zanpakuto by the hilt and threw to the ground, embedding it right next to Gin's head. Naruto then coughed blood before allowing himself to slowly drop to the ground.

"**You're an idiot.**"

'_Just shut up... and heal me...'_

A.N. - Alright, Chapter 5 complete. Did ya like it? If so, lemme know with a review, follow, fav or all three! Hope the action scene was good enough. More of it will be coming up so stay tuned.

Green out.


	7. Chapter 6: Orange and Ice

Chapter 6: Orange and Ice

After defeating both Gin and Tosen, Naruto simply stood on the wrecked battlefield, allowing Kurama to heal him.

"**That was idiotic, brat.**"

'_Uh-huh._'

"**Healing you right now is such a pain in the ass. Your damn cells keep destroying themselves.**"

Naruto simply drowned out his tenant, before looking upwards and seeing his coat on a tree branch. Naruto raised his hand before motioning it down. Not a moment later did a gust of wind blow the coat off the branch and down into Naruto's hand. Naruto then took in a deep breath and slipped his coat on. Naruto's eyes widened suddenly.

'_Damn! That Ichigo kid is squaring off against Kenpachi and Chad something is about to go head-to-head with Shunsui._'

"**Yeah, they're probably going to die.**"

'_God, it's easy to hate you. Shunsui won't kill him. He's too lazy. Kenpachi though... if Ichigo puts up enough of a fight, he'll kill the kid. I gotta go now._'

"**Idiot! You still aren't even fully healed. That sword destroyed your stomach on the cellular level. It'll take much longer than usual to heal you completely. If you get into another fight, you won't be able to utilize my chakra to the fullest nor will it be able to be utilized for as long.**"

Naruto spit blood on the ground before wiping his chin with his hand. '_Fair 'nuff._'

Naruto then teleported towards the impending battle going on between Kenpachi and Ichigo.

"Bakudo #63 - Sajo Sabaku!" Naruto was interrupted however, by a thick rope that wrapped tightly around his upper body. Naruto clicked his tongue in frustration.

'_Damn it! They keep popping up one after another!'_

Naruto turned his head to see Rangiku Matsumoto holding her palm up at him. Rangiku had long and wavy orange hair, blue eyes, full lips, and a beauty mark located under the right side of her mouth. She possessed a curvaceous figure; her most distinctive feature of it is her very large breasts. She was dressed in the garb typical of Shinigami, though she let her robes hang loose for her ample bosom to be revealed. She wore a thin

golden necklace tucked between her cleavage and a long pink scarf over her shoulders. In addition, her lieutenant's armband was being worn on her uniform's sash, as opposed to around the arm. She carried her Zanpakuto behind her back.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the orange haired beauty. '_If Rangiku is here then that means..._'

"Sit upon the frozen heavens... Hyorinmaru!" Naruto looked upwards to see Toshiro Hitsugaya with his Shikai activated. Toshiro Hitsugaya was short, standing at about 4'4, with turquoise eyes and short, spiked, white hair. He wore a standard sleeveless captain's haori with a green sash around his shoulders, which was being held together by a round, star-like clip. The sash held his Zanpakuto's sheath in place on his back and was tied to it at either end. The young Shinigami prodigy's Shikai extended slightly in length, and gained a crescent-shaped blade attached to its hilt by a long metal chain. Toshiro then raised his sword in the air, and from the tip formed a dragon made of ice.

"Haah!" Toshiro then directed the red eyed ice dragon towards his opponent. Naruto gritted his teeth, before using raw physical strength to break free of the Kido spell. The dragon managed to strike him in time but Naruto was able to keep it from chewing him whole by grabbing its teeth with his hands. This had the side effect of slowly freezing his hands. Due to this, Naruto struggled against the force of the dragon and was unable to push it away in time before it knocked him into a building structure.

"Be careful, Matsumoto." Toshiro addressed his lieutenant. "This guy... is not a normal Shinigami."

"Yes, captain."

Naruto sat under the rubble of the now collapsed building, quite relaxed and poised.

'_Kurama?'_

"**Not there yet.**"

Naruto clicked his teeth. '_Alright... Plan B_.' Naruto then rose of the rubble, staring towards the sky at his young opponent. '_3... 2... 1..._'

"YO SHIRO-CHAN!"

A vein popped out of Toshiro's head while Rangiku covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. "THE HELL YOU SAY, ASSHOLE?!" Toshiro angrily replied.

"IS THE WITLLE BOY ANGWY? MAYBE IT'S TIME FOR YOUR NAPPY-WAPPY!"

"URRRRGGGHHHH!" Toshiro then directed his sword towards Naruto. The dragon flew at him but Naruto clapped his hands forcefully, shattering the dragon and everything in its radius. Toshiro simply slashed his sword towards Naruto again, and another dragon appeared to attack him. Naruto sighed in annoyance, knowing that it'd be useless to try again. Naruto executed his Flying Thunder God Jutsu, appearing behind Toshiro with his Zanpakuto drawn, prepared to strike him down. Toshiro's lieutenant quickly came to his defense.

"Hado #31 - Shakkaho!" A fiery orb of fire shot off at Naruto, giving Toshiro the opportunity to shunpo away. Naruto teleported out of the way, before delivering a jab towards Rangiku. Rangiku jumped off the rooftop she was on, which became a pile of rubble after Naruto's air jab hit it, while Toshiro once again launched his dragon at Naruto. Naruto turned towards the ice dragon, before sheathing his sword, holding out his hand and forming a small ball of blue chakra with white blades spinning around them.

"Wind Style: Rasengan!" Naruto thrusted his attack through the dragon's mouth, moving upwards towards Toshiro himself. The dragon continued to break into pieces but as Naruto got close, using his other hand, Toshiro aimed his hand, face-down, towards Naruto.

"Hado #88 - Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!" A streak of lightning shot off out his head in a flash, and managed to hit Naruto, creating a huge explosion.

"Aw, Shiro-chan.." Naruto, completely unscathed, sang out from behind causing Toshiro to turn around sharply with the vein once again on his forehead. "By the way you shot out that attack, it really seemed like ya wanted lil ol me dead."

"That's not possible. How did you dodge that?"

"Well, if you had listened carefully, you would've heard the 'poof'."

Toshiro simply glared at him fiercely. "Matsumoto!" Toshiro called out.

"Yes, captain?"

"From here on out, don't interfere."

"But-"

"No, Shiro-chan's right. Lemme show him how the grownups play." Naruto cut in. He then reached behind his back and pulled out his Zanpakuto in the standard position and pointed towards the young Shinigami. "Time to get serious, kid."

"I couldn't agree more, old man."

The two then disappeared, before reappearing in a deadlock, their swords crossing each other's as they struggled against each other.

Naruto then kicked Toshiro in the stomach, launching him back several feet. Toshiro managed to recover mid-air before aiming his sword towards the sky.

"Tenso Jurin!"

"Oh, damn.."

A moment later, clouds started appearing over the two Shinigami's vicinity. Toshiro then slashed his sword downwards, which in turn caused hail to fall rapidly towards Naruto. Naruto simply held out his arm, and formed his Rasenshuriken in its normal blue and white hue. Naruto then threw his attack into the cloud, which made it dissipate after the attack exploded. Naruto turned his attention back to his opponent, only to see multiple ice dragons being sent in his direction. Naruto crossed his hands before saying, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Five Narutos then appeared, each going after one of the dragons.

"Wind Style: Rasengan!" The Narutos simultaneously shattered the ice dragons, pushing past them and surrounding Toshio. Toshiro simply smirked, before crying a command.

"Do it, Matsumoto!"

"Growl, Haineko!"

A cloud of ash replaced her blade, and using the element of surprise, surrounded Naruto and his clones before quickly enveloping them. Toshiro narrowed his eyes, knowing well that Naruto was far from finished. Indeed, Naruto was shown relatively unscathed, with only a few scratches and his Level 3 - Sage Mode activated and the orange shade lighted. Naruto then teleported in front of Toshiro, with Toshiro instinctively raising his blade to defend.

"Ikkotsu!" Naruto struck Toshiro's blade with his fist, the power from the attack sending Toshiro into a nearby building. Behind him, Rangiku's Haineko attempted to deliver a surprise attack. Naruto expected it however, and simply turned around before waving his head. A gust of wind then blew the attack off-course, causing Rangiku to have difficulty controlling the direction of her Zanpakuto. Naruto then teleported in front of Rangiku and was prepared to deliver a quick jab to knock her out. Naruto's punch was blocked by a Toshiro, who managed to shunpo in front of his lieutenant just in time. Toshiro then held out his left arm with his thumb held back. "Oni... Dekopin!" Toshiro then released his thumb into his opponent's gut, the resulting force knocking Naruto several yards into the air. Naruto managed to recover however, by flipping his body around and somehow skidding to a stop in the sky.

"Captain, are you alright?" A concerned Rangiku asked.

"I'm fine!" Toshiro stubbornly replied. However, this seemed to be a little contrary to the truth. His clothes were torn, due to his hard crash into a building below. His left temple had a huge gash, which in turn allowed blood to flow at an alarming pace. The blood fell over his eye, forcing him to keep it closed. He was also panting heavily, an indication of how strong Naruto's punch actually was. Naruto noticed these things himself, smiling smugly at the fact that Toshiro's sword was sheathed.

'_I knew it._' Naruto thought. "I cracked it didn't I, Shiro-chan? I broke your little sword and now you can't use it anymore."

Toshiro however, kept himself poised and calm. He simply reached for his sword, drawing it out and showing that indeed it was cracked. "No more games, Uzumaki. I'm going to freeze you to death, right here and now. Bankai... Daiguren Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro's Bankai caused ice to flow from Hyorinmaru onto him, starting at his right arm, then form into the shape of a dragon's head around his sword hand, encasing the sword up to the hilt, which also changed from the shape of a four-pointed star to that of an eight-pointed star. The ice continued forming up over his shoulders, with two large wings sprouting from his back and a long tail. The ice formed down his left arm and encased his hand, which ended in a claw. Toshiro's feet were encased in ice in a similar manner to his left hand, as they also ended in claws.

"Hyoru Senbi!" Toshiro sent a crescent shaped ice attack towards Naruto, but Naruto dodged it immediately, appearing behind Toshiro in the next instant. But Toshiro was fast, as he managed to use his ice tail to stab Naruto in the leg and freezing his leg muscle and causing him to stumble. Toshiro then took this opportunity to deliver an upward diagonal slash across Naruto's chest, causing his body to convulse and freeze from the inside out.

'_Kurama!'_

"**Do it!**"

"Unleash your fangs, Kurama!"

A moment later, Naruto appeared with his Shikai activated, the ice melted and his wounds closed. Toshiro smirked.

"Bout time." Toshiro shunpo-ed above Naruto, holding out his palm. "Hado #33 - Sokatsui!"

Naruto blocked it with the side of his sword, before holding out his other hand and forming his Red Rasenshuriken. Naruto launched it at his young opponent but Toshiro blocked it with his ice wings, the power from the attack destroying his wings and knocking him a few feet back in the air. His wings immediately regrew, as if they hadn't been destroyed in the first place. The two Shinigami clashed swords, trading slashes and dodging stabs. The two eventually coming a standstill, pushing against each other's blades.

"So tell me Shiro-chan," Naruto started, while still struggling against his opponent. "What do you really have against me? You can't tell me you're actually doing this out of 'duty'."

"No... not duty. There's only one reason... and it's quite primal. I simply wish... _to surpass you!"_

Naruto managed to push through Toshiro and slice through his body only for it to crack and shatter.

"Hado #33 - Sokatsui!" Naruto looked up to see the real Toshiro shooting a beam of energy out his palm. Naruto blocked it with his sword but the power of the spell knocked him into the ground. Toshiro wasted no time and immediately activated his next attack, "Rokui Hyoketsujin!"

Naruto looked around to see five snowflakes surrounding him, before they shot up a line of white and trapped him into a pillar of solid ice. Toshiro then decided to capitalize on this opening by unleashing one of his most powerful techniques.

"Sennen Hyoro!" At once, a myriad of ice pillars started appearing around Toshiro and the encased Naruto. Toshiro turned his sword into a ninety degree angle, which in turn caused the pillars to collapse into the pillar in which Naruto was encased, crushing it and themselves. Toshiro, weary but not done, now directed his voice towards his lieutenant who was currently watching their battle.

"Rangiku, take cover!" Toshiro then aimed his blade at the sky before announcing his final technique. "Hyoten Hyakkaso!" A bundle clouds started circling around them as Naruto, now with his Shikai dissipated, started rising out of the cracked ice pile. He had cuts all over his body and was now quite worn. Naruto looked upwards before winding his arms. This motion brought out a small tornado, which blew away the clouds and canceled out Toshiro's attack. Toshiro could no longer maintain his Bankai, causing him to revert back to his Shikai. Both warriors were now panting slightly as they simply stared each other down.

"**I can't give you any more chakra. You're going to have to fend for yourself now, brat.**"

'_That's fine. I'll finish this in a flash._'

Naruto teleported before Toshiro, quickly delivering a downward slash. Toshiro blocked it, but Naruto simply slid off the sword and kicked Toshiro in the stomach, knocking him back a few feet. Toshiro quickly recovered before directing his sword towards Naruto, sending multiple ice dragons towards. Naruto clapped his hands, causing the dragons to instantly disintegrate. Naruto capitalized on this opening, rushing towards his young opponent with his natural speed. Before the dragons could re-materalize, Naruto quickly delivering a double-fisted attack to Toshiro's face. "Sokotsu!" This attack knocked him in the ground, the combined exhaustion from battle and the attack Naruto just delivered finally sending Toshiro into unconsciousness.

"Captain!" Rangiku shouted. Naruto teleported in front of her, looking deeply into her eyes, before kissing her briefly. Naruto then broke the kiss before whispering in a soft voice, "I'm sorry." Not a moment later, did he suddenly appear behind her, delivering a light precise blow to the back of her neck, and knocking her out. Naruto immediately caught her as soon as she demonstrated signs of collapsing, before laying her gently down on the rooftop they were currently on. Naruto then sighed, before taking a few moments to sense what was going on around him. His eyes widened as he could neither sense Chad's nor Ichigo's reiatsu. Naruto gritted his teeth before disappearing. Moments later, he appeared on top of a tall structure, examining the aftermath of Ichigo's fight. Naruto narrowed his eyes at seeing both Kenpachi and Ichigo lying on the ground, pretty much bleeding to death. Naruto teleported next to Ichigo's body, lifting him into his arms before turning his head slightly.

"You'll take care of Kenpachi, won't you... Yachiru?"

"No problem, Naru-chan!" The enthusiastic young pink-haired lieutenant replied.

Naruto nodded with a smile, before disappearing, taking Ichigo to safety.

A.N. - Chapter 6 finished. Hope it was to your guys satisfaction. About the FRJ and Naruto in general, because Naruto is fighting against his comrades(-ish), he is holding back for the most part. In the last chapter, the only time he took the FRJ up to full speed was when Gin started shooting off his bankai. Also, in order to allow the Shinigami to even stand up to Naruto in the first place, cause, as you will see in later chapters, he is insanely strong, I boosted up their abilities and strength, as you saw in this chapter with Toshiro. Anyway, review, fav, follow and stay tuned. Thanks.

Green out.


	8. Chapter 7: Homesick

Chapter 7: Homesick

**Konohagakure (Present Time)**

Hinata Hyuga, head of the Hyuga clan, awoke from her slumber, contemplating for the moment the meeting she had later with Gaara of The Sand. Gaara was still Fourth Kazekage, and was now engaged. Hinata slid out of bed, opening her closet and pulling her formal clothes out.

"Honey, where're you going?"

Hinata turned around with a smile to see her husband, Kiba Inuzuka watching her with a smile on his face as well.

"I have to get going to that meeting I told you about."

"Aww, noooooo, stay here... where it's warm and comfy and nobody has to wear pants..."

Hinata chuckled upon hearing that final part. "No, it's important. Plus, if memory serves correctly... you have a meeting today too."

Kiba blanked out for a moment, before realization suddenly struck him. "Shhhhhhhiiiittt!" Kiba sprang up out of the domain where pants, and underwear apparently, don't exist and started throwing on his clothes, kissing his wife goodbye and jumping out the window.. without actually opening it.

Hinata simply shook her head at Kiba's mirth before exiting the room and reminding one of her maids to find someone who can fix their window. Hinata then decided to not rush to the meeting, considering she had plenty of time, and rather chose to ponder things as she so often enjoyed doing.

'_It's still so hard to believe..._' Hinata looked around the village, waving to all its citizens as they walked by. '_All this peace and happiness... the village feels so warm. But it's still missing something..._' Hinata then shook her head, determined not to go down THAT road again. Hinata then looked upwards, having reached her destination - the Hokage building. Hinata entered, directing herself towards the meeting area. There she saw familiar faces.

"Kazekage-sama, Hokage-sama, Nara-dono." Hinata politely addressed.

"Now, now, Hinata," Started Kakashi Hatake, the current Hokage of Konohagakure. "No need to be formal."

"Yes. We have been through far too much to care about such trivialities." Agreed the Kazekage of the Sunagakure, Gaara of the Sand.

Shikamaru Nara, personal advisor to the Hokage, yawned before also agreeing to this. "Yeah... it's far too much of a drag to care about that."

Hinata smiled at them, before taking her seat at the table. "Fair enough, Shikamaru-kun. Let's begin."

Kakashi then pulled out a dark purple crystal that was emanating a glow and gave off a dark aura. "We're here to discuss this. Our scouts found it in the center of a large crater."

"Do we know its origin?" Gaara asked.

"No... but it seems familiar somehow. We have some of our best people looking into it but right now, we only know that it's remarkably dangerous. One of the scouts, a Chunin, picked it up and it caused him to go mad. He nearly killed his comrades. It took at least 3 Chunin to restrain him."

"So what do we do?" Hinata questioned. "Do we share this information with the other nations?"

"It'd be unnecessary to hide it from the leaders but disclosing it to the public would cause panic and create distrust in the Shinobi whom are supposed to protect them." Shikamaru commented.

"Good point." Kakashi agreed. "So here's what we'll do..."

After the meeting was over, everyone began to leave but before Hinata walked out of the door, she was called over by Kakashi.

"Hinata, do you have a moment?" Kakashi asked.

"Kakashi-san?"

"Hinata, there's something that I've been working on, that I think you should see. Come with me a moment, will you?"

Hinata and Kakashi traveled to a remote training area, an open space with no one but the two of them. "Do you remember," Kakashi started. "Ten years ago when... when Naruto disappeared?"

Hinata looked to towards the ground, sorrow evident on her face. "I'll never forget that day..."

"We searched for him for months. We thought he was kidnapped, almost went to another war..."

"What's your point?" Hinata quickly interrupted, obviously eager not to delve into those memories once more.

"I have a theory.. of where he went." Kakashi then activated his Sharingan. "Kamui!"

Kakashi's technique opened a huge portal and what could be seen throughout was huge spherical objects, that had green straits in various areas but was mostly surrounded by blue. "What is this?" Hinata asked.

But before Kakashi could answer, his Sharingan deactivated and the portal shut closed immediately, the strain of even opening causing him to collapse on the ground. Hinata rushed towards him, concerned, and proceeded to aid him in erecting himself.

"Those... were parallel worlds. Infinite worlds, either similar or radically different, from ours. When I was training this technique, I felt, just for a moment, Naruto's chakra." Hinata's eyes widened, as she tried to process what was being told to her. "He's out there somewhere. My student, our hero, our comrade, is still alive and somehow, someway, he traveled to another dimension."

Hinata stood up and turned around, her hair covering her eyes.

"Hinata..." Kakashi continued, as he stood up, walked over to her and place his hand on her shoulder for comfort. "I'll harness this Jutsu and when I do, we'll find him."

"...hy..." Hinata whispered.

"What's that?"

"Why... are you telling me this?"

"Well, I simply though-"

"I'm married now.. all the feelings I had for him are buried and gone. I can't... think about this right now. I have other duties to attend to. If that is all, Hokage-sama." With that, Hinata quickly bowed her head and ran off, leaving Kakashi alone in the field.

Kakashi simply watched Hinata's disappearing figure, allowing his thoughts to wander. '_Buried? Maybe. But gone? Never._'

Hinata wound up back in Konoha, jumping aimlessly across the buildings. Hinata shook her head fiercely, trying not to remember all those buried emotions and memories. Hinata jumped down from the rooftops, landing gracefully on the street with the rest of the civilians. Hinata began to walk but accidentally bumped into someone. Hinata raised her head and came face-to-face with pale blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

"Hinata-chan!" Ino happily greeted. "I'm surprised to see you here. Did you come to buy some flowers?"

Initially confused, Hinata took a moment to evaluate her surroundings and indeed, found herself in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. "Umm.. no. Actually, I just lost track of where I was going."

"Oh. Well, are you okay? You seem a bit troubled."

Hinata averted her eyes. "No, I-I'm fine. Really..."

Ino frowned at this. "Alright, come on." Ino grabbed Hinata's arm and began pulling her into the shop. "We're gonna sit down and have a girl-to-girl talk."

After Ino led Hinata to the back kitchen, she sat Hinata down, poured her a cup of tea and demanded details in her Ino-ish way. Hinata transpired what Kakashi had shown her and told her. Upon hearing this, Ino's glass dropped to the floor, as she simply stood there, frozen and unresponsive. After a few moments, Ino shook her head before turning around and clutching the counter while placing her hand over her head. Hinata simply looked on sympathetically.

"So... let me get this straight. Naruto.. may just be alive, off somewhere in.. another world?"

"Apparently so."

Ino bit her lip, struggling to keep herself in check. Hinata stood up before walking behind Ino, and comfortingly hugging her from behind. Ino simply allowed herself to be embraced, appreciating the warmth while her mind when back to the conversation Hinata and her had ten years ago...

**Flashback (10 Years Ago) [Ino's P.O.V.]**

_"Ino-san?"_

_I was so nervous. I felt like I was some criminal about to get booked, thrown in jail and made to wear those god awful orange suits. Seriously, I do NOT understand how Naruto can wear that color. It's hideous, and.. and... and... and... I still haven't responded._

_"A-about what, Hinata?"_

_"How do you feel... about Naruto?"_

_"Huh? What do you-?"_

_Hinata cut me off, apparently to send the message that she wasn't in the mood for games. "I saw you two come back out of the forest together when we were trapped on that island. I saw how... happy he was. It hurt.. it did. But I... if anything in the world could make Naruto-kun smile like that, I would gladly find a way to help hold onto it. Even if it isn't me... I want Naruto-kun to be happy. So, how do you feel about him?"_

_I was stunned. To see someone so in love with another person, so devoted to them that the only thing they could care about is for that person to be happy... I almost cried. But I decided to do the only honourable and gracious thing - Lie. "No.. Hinata I don't have any feelings for him. It was only a training session. He managed to get the best of me and that's why he was smiling like the goofball he is. He's all yours, girl."_

_Hinata smiled and I smiled as well, knowing that Naruto was a lucky guy. Our moment was interrupted when Kiba rushed into the shop. "The Hokage summoned us!"_

_"Why?" Hinata asked._

_"Naruto... Naruto's gone!"_

**Konhagakure (Present Time) [Author's P.O.V.]**

Ino and Hinata, and pretty much everyone remembers that as one of the worst days since the war. After awhile, Hinata and Ino separated and sat back down on the table.

"We... we need to get our minds off of this. Do you want to go for a sparring session, let off some steam?" Ino asked.

"I was actually supposed to meet Kiba soon."

"Bring him. I'll bring Gaara and we can make this a sorta double date kinda thing."

"Alright. I'll see you on the training grounds." Hinata then got up to leave but before she walked out of the door, she turned around, ran up to Ino and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you." Ino simply smiled in reply. With that, the two kunoichi departed, each running to find their respective other.

Thoughts rushed through Ino's head like a river, thoughts about Naruto, a person whom she had one fleeting moment with, and that was it. For most of her life, she hardly noticed him. Scratch that, she ALWAYS noticed him, but that was simply because he made himself noticeable. That was because he yelled at the top of his lungs when declaring his dreams or wore that 'I'm-a-hugeass-target' orange jumpsuit all the time. But he always made himself noticed. Not simply by how he spoke or dressed, but by what he did. He worked hard. He worked harder than anyone and that was the most noticeable thing about him. And that.. is why the 'one fleeting moment' will never leave Ino's heart. Because once again, somehow, someway, Konoha's Most Unpredictable Ninja left his impression on her by what he did.

Ino wasn't the only one letting thoughts flow. Hinata was traveling back home to her husband and yet all she could seem to think about was Naruto. She was in love with him pretty much all her life. She watched him grow, seeing at a very early stage what no one else saw - his true self. And with his true self, she recognized his potential. The potential in which he demonstrated repeatedly to everyone. The potential in which he used to conquer evil. The potential in which he used to gain everyone's love and trust. That was the Naruto she saw. She never forgot him. Not how he looked, not he talked, not he moved. How could she?

Later, Hinata and Ino faced each other on the training area whilst standing beside Kiba and Gaara, respectively.

"You ready for this, redhead?" Kiba challenged.

"I could use a warm-up. Let's go." Gaara replied.

Ino and Hinata came head to head, using their respective taijutsu styles against each other. Ino threw a roundhouse kick towards Hinata's face, but she managed to block it with her arm, while using her free arm to strike Ino in the chest with her palm. Ino stumbled back, giving Hinata the chance to move forward for the kill, figuratively speaking of course. Hinata was suddenly pushed back however by sand. It launched her back into the air but she recovered gracefully in the air before landing softly on the ground to see Gaara holding out his hand. Kiba growled at him.

"My turn. Akamaru!" Kiba and his huge white dog jumped forward into the air before spinning, initiating their signature technique. "Fang Passing Fang!" Gaara held up his hand, creating a hard wall of sand, which Kiba's technique slowly pierced. The technique ended as soon as an opening appeared in the wall, and just as it did, Hinata jumped through with her palms ready. Ino was also ready, as she held out her palm as well before announcing her technique.

"Anti-Gravity Push!" Hinata was pushed backwards, the force of the technique causing her body to lurch forward. Moments later, Hinata 'poofed' out of existence. Ino and Gaara's attention were directed upwards to see Hinata falling towards them.

"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!" Hinata pushed her palm forward, sending a vacuum of air towards them. Gaara created a dome of sand around them, before spreading his arms, the motion causing his dome of sand to shoot out small pellets of sand towards Hinata. Kiba was prepared to jump in front of the attack but Hinata proved ready as she held out her arms and spun rapidly before creating an orb of spinning chakra, deflecting the attack. Hinata landed, panting slightly, in her signature combat position. Hinata and Ino smiled at each other, relaxing their stances which sent the message to the men that the spar was over.

Gaara and Kiba shook hands, smiles on their faces as well. Later that night, Kiba and Hinata finally were together in their own bed. Kiba held her close to him, sighing contently as he drifted off to sleep. But she was wide awake. And despite being held by her loving husband, in their own bed, all she could think about was Naruto Uzumaki.

A.N. - Another chapter done. Felt a little checking on Konoha and its residents would be nice. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Review, lemme know how I'm doing, what you think and what I could do to improve, etc. but also to let me know if you're enjoying the story as well, cuz, ya know, that's always nice. Also, fav and follow and share it around so all your buddies can come and make me famo- er, I mean, enjoy the literary expression of a fellow author's imaginative creativity. And regarding switching P.O.V.s I think it's best if I announce it because it makes it simpler for everyone but if enough people want me to, I might just cut that out. Until next time.

Green out.


	9. Chapter 8: Protege

Chapter 8: Protege

A battered and bandaged Ichigo opened his eyes to find himself laying down in a dark room.

'_Where am I?'_ He thought to himself. '_I.. ain't dead?'_

"Nice to see you finally opening your eyes." A voice called out.

Ichigo turned his head to see a black cat standing beside him. "Yoruichi-san!" Leaning against the wall, he also saw Naruto. "So," He then turned his attention back to the feline. "You saved me?"

"No, that was me." Naruto replied. "You were pretty banged up. But, damn, you did a number on Kenpachi. Not bad, kid."

"Banged up? Oh yeah... I did get sliced up pretty bad.. That guy.. Kenpachi.. Is he.. alright?"

"Hm? Yeah, he's fine. Should be out and about and stabbing people in no time."

"**Tch! Caring about his enemy.. how pathetic.**"

'_It's admirable._' Naruto rebuked.

"**It's soft.**" Kurama expressed in disgust."**That kid wasn't built for battle.**"

Naruto only sighed, choosing not to engage in that right now.

"Thanks.. for saving me." Ichigo said, expressing his gratitude.

"It was nothing."

"You should thank your spiritual force for not giving out on you. You had an abundance of wounds." Yoruichi commented.

Ichigo eyes then suddenly widened. "Damn!" He then rose haphazardly, reopening a wound on his stomach.

"Fool! Why'd you move? Don't you understand how badly injured you are?" Yoruichi shouted. Naruto simply stayed quiet, observing.

"Chad... Chad's in danger! I gotta go help 'im!" Naruto suddenly appeared next to him. He then threw roundhouse kick to Ichigo's face which caused him to fall back down. "Why the hell would you kick an injured man, you asshole?!" Ichigo shouted angrily as he held his nose, which was currently gushing blood.

"Relax kid. Chad isn't dead." Naruto informed, nonchalantly ignoring Ichigo's question as if he didn't just kick him in the face.

"He's right Ichigo. Chad is alright. Inoue and Ishida as well. Chad was lucky to fight the opponent that he did. As far as Inoue and Ishida are concerned, they avoided enemy detection by blending in with them." Yoruichi said.

"I see.."

"So just keep quiet and rest inside this barrier for awhile."

"You're right."

"After all," Naruto chimed in. "Half your organs are crushed. If this mask hadn't been in your shirt, you would've died." Naruto handed Ichigo his broken hollow mask.

"That... was inside?" Ichigo asked, shock on his face.

"I was surprised to see you still carrying it around." Yoruichi said.

"That was really inside my shirt?"

"What?" Yoruichi asked. "You didn't know?"

"Well, no, it's just... when I was fighting Renji, it seemed like that mask saved me. So I wanted to keep it as a good luck charm but.. Hanataro threw it in the underground canal."

Naruto's and Yoruichi's eyes widened before they slowly looked at each other before looking back at Ichigo. "Oh," Ichigo continued. "Hanataro is a guy from the 4th Squad. Even though he was an enemy, he's still a good guy. He even healed the wounds that I got from fighting Renji." Ichigo then held up the mask. "But still, how is this here? I was sure Hana threw it away..."

"Ichigo.." Yoruichi. "Give me the mask."

"Huh? Why? I'm lucky it came back..."

"Hand it over! I will not permit back talk!" Yoruichi said, raising his spiritual aura threateningly.

"Do as the cat says." Naruto said, doing the same.

Scared and overwhelmed by their power, Ichigo handed the mask to Yoruichi. "Yes sirs... please do with it as you see fit."

"By the way, Yoruichi, if you're going to hold onto that thing, you should probably go back to your original form." Naruto commented.

"Good point."

"Wait...your original form?" Ichigo questioned.

"I suppose there's no point in hiding it." Yoruichi then stood in the middle of the room. His form then began to change as he grew bigger and bigger, slowly looking more humanoid before the process finally finished, revealing him to be... a her.

"A... a woman?!" Ichigo exclaimed, shocked at what he saw.

There stood a brown-skinned slender woman of average height with purple hair, and yellow eyes with an amused smirk on her face. "Surprised? Can't be helped. You probably thought I was a man due to the way I speak." She also wasn't wearing any clothes, much to Naruto's great enjoyment. She continued as she started walking towards Ichigo. "No matter how many times I reveal my true form, it's always funny. Everyone always has a stupefied expression of disbelief on their face."

Still unable to process this revelation, Ichigo continued to sputter in his 'stupefied' manner. "B-b-b-but.. you weren't a cat?"

"Cats can't talk. That's common knowledge." Yoruichi stated matter-of-factly.

Ichigo simply dropped his head, accepting the bizarre-ness that just happened before his eyes. Yoruichi then squatted before Ichigo, forcing Ichigo to actually notice, quite vividly too, that Yoruichi was still without clothes.

"Now, enough of that. Let me show you what I have here." Ichigo's became bright red. "First of all, this object-"

"CLOTHES! CLOTHES! PUT ON SOME DAMN CLOTHES!"

At this Naruto slammed his fist into the back of Ichigo's head. "SHUT THE HELL UP! WHAT KIND OF A GUY SAYS THAT?!"

"SHUT UP, YOU WHISKERED FACED PERV! I CAN'T FOCUS ON ANYTHING ELSE WITH HER LOOKING LIKE THAT!"

"SO FOCUS ON THE THINGS MAN SHOULD WHEN HE SEES A NAKED WOMAN! IT'S BEEN 10 YEARS SINCE I'VE SEEN HER LIKE THIS AND YOU'RE NOT TAKING THIS AWAY FROM ME!"

Naruto and Ichigo literally bumped heads, as they pushed each others head back and forth with electricity sparking between their eyes. Yoruichi chuckled before reaching for a sweater.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. It's been awhile since I last wore clothes. But you..." Yoruichi turned towards after putting her sweater on. "You're much more innocent than you look."

Ichigo was simply looking the other way with his arms crossed and red on his face. "Was this your first time seeing a woman's body?" Yoruichi teased.

"Shut it!" Ichigo retorted.

"Are you sure... you don't wanna see such young female skin? If you don't take the opportunity now, you may never get it again."

Ichigo then faced her again, a blush still on his face. "None of your business!" He stated in an irritated manner.

"See?" Yoruichi then lifted up her sweater a bit, giving Ichigo one final view. Naruto silently hurrahed while Ichigo yelled out surprise, once again reopening his closed wounds.

"Are you okay?" Yoruichi asked, her sweater still raised. "It's no wonder your wound reopened, with you screaming so much."

"SHUT UP! PUT ON SOME DAMN UNDERWEAR!"

"SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Naruto yelled.

"SHUT UP! OW-ARGH!"

Yoruichi was now wearing a black, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist, and black stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes. Her hair was also now a ponytail.

"Clothes are so confining..." Yoruichi commented.

'_So take them off damn it._' A now unhappy Naruto mentally let out.

"So, you wanted to show me this?" Ichigo held in his hand a long, beige, bone wand-like artifact, with a small, white, bird-shaped skull, and four protrusions, similar to finger bones, extending from the back of the skull.

"That's right," Yoruichi affirmed. "It's a rare and special object, the only one of its kind in all of Soul Society. Not bad, eh?"

"But.. what is something like this doing with you?"

The look on Yoruichi's face indicated the need for him to elaborate. "You can transform.." Ichigo continued. "You can heal wounds... You have precious objects... Yoruichi-san, just who are you?"

Naruto looked at her intently, interested to see how she'd respond.

"That-" But before Yoruichi could even begin to explain, a burst of spiritual pressure was felt in the air. Everyone in the room recognized it at once.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. '_Byakuya._'

"This spiritual pressure belongs to _him._" Ichigo drew out, memories going threw his head of his last encounter with the man.

Yoruichi lifted up her head. "It's coming from the Shrine of Pentinence."

Ichigo then jumped out his bed, running towards the door.

"Wait Ichigo!" Yoruichi called.

Ichigo turned around, urgency present within his movements. "Ganju and Hanataro are heading towards the Shrine! I'm gonna go save them!"

"What can you do in your condition?!"

"If I don't go, who's gonna save them?!" Ichigo retorted. Ichigo then held out the object, before pouring his spiritual energy into it, causing it to grow a bat-like wing. "Fly." Ichigo then flew out of the cave they were in, into the air and towards the Shrine. Yoruichi ran outside, watching Ichigo fly away.

"Damn fool!" Yoruichi let out in frustration. Naruto walked out of the cave in a leisurely pace with his hands in his pockets. He then turned towards Yoruichi and nonchalantly challenged, "Race ya."

Naruto arrived on the scene, watching the battle take place between Byakuya and Ichigo. Jushiro Ukitake and his two subordinates were also there, along with Rukia Kuchiki, Hanataro and a downed Ganju. Naruto decided to observe Ichigo for a minute, ready to intervene if things got dire. Naruto widened his eyes upon witnessing Ichigo block Byakuya's attack after Byakuya executed Shunpo. Naruto smirked.

'_This kid... beat Renji... survived against Kenpachi.. and is holding his own against Byakuya. He has potential. Don't ya think so?'_

"**Hmph.**"

Naruto grinned, knowing full well that his partner agreed with him.

"How about it, Kuchiki-san? I've got your movements read!" Ichigo taunted.

'_He's definitely cocky..._'

"Do not get ahead of yourself, foolish boy." Byakuya replied.

Ichigo simply smirked down at him. "Why don't we see if it was luck or not?" Ichigo then charged towards Byakuya. Byakuya disappeared once more with Shunpo, but Ichigo saw him clearly, turning around blocking his oncoming attack with his own Zanpakuto.

'_...But he's got the moves to back it up._'

Byakuya, after a few minutes of trading blows with Ichigo, raised his sword. "It seems you have improved more than I thought. Very well.. before you become too intoxicated from your power, I will show you.. a gap that you could never hope to close, no matter how far you have come."

Rukia attempted, in vain, to warn Ichigo. "It's no good Ichigo! Run!"

"Scatter... " Byakuya's blade started to glow pink. But before he finished, a white wrap started to coil itself around his blade, with the holder of the wrap crouching in front him. Upon seeing this, Naruto rose up from the building he was spying them from, prepared to join the person in question.

"You!" Byakuya exclaimed in recognition.

Yoruichi Shihoin rose up before turning around. "Long time no see... Little Byakuya."

"Yoruichi Shihoin..." Byakuya then slashed his blade free of the wrap around it before continuing. "Former Supreme Commander of The Secret Mobile Corps, as well as Corps Commander of the 1st Squad thereof, the Correction Corps... Yoruichi Shihoin. It has been a long time since I've seen your face. You have hidden yourself well over the course of a decade.* I considered you dead."

"Yoruichi-san..." Ichigo addressed. "You came to help, didn't you? I appreciate it but, I'm gonna need you to get out of the way. I'm gonna take that guy down."

Yoruichi looked back at him before asking, "Take him down? You, take him down? Fool!" Yoruichi then shunpoed towards Ichigo, before stabbing him in the stomach and knocking him out. She then held his body on her shoulder.

"Medicine?" Jushiro Ukitake asked. "Piercing Point or Collapsing Point.. you just pounded some kind of powerful anaesthetic directly into his internal organs. What're you planning to do with him, Yoruichi?"

"Ukitake..."

Before she could answer, Byakuya stepped forward. "Your plans are pointless. You won't escape from here."

"You've learned to talk big, haven't you, Little Byakuya? When was the last time you beat me in tag?"

"In that case, let's see."

Byakuya shunpoed forward with Yoruichi shunpoing behind Byakuya. Byakuya cut his sword free of the wraps tied around it before turning around and slashing at her. She shunpoed away, with Byakuya shunpoing right behind her. She then shunpoed away again, facing Byakuya on the bridge. The two started walking forward, before disappearing, Yoruichi jumping over Byakuya and attempting to escape. Byakuya then executed a different move, teleporting in front of Yoruichi and catching her off guard when she realized the move he just used.

"Did you think you could escape me with such a slow Shunpo?" Byakuya then proceeded to bring down his blade onto Yoruichi but he was stopped grabbing his Zanpakuto. His eyes widened as he realized whom was in front of him.

"Sensei?"

"Yo, Byaku-chan. Seems like you've been practicing. Not bad." A relaxed Naruto commented.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"I can't let you take out the boy just yet. He's not ready."

"Naruto," Ukitake cut in. "What do you mean?" Naruto then turned his attention to his colleague.

"This kid - Ichigo Kurosaki - is my new protege." Naruto then turned his eyes back to Byakuya, staring into his fiercely. "Three days. He'll be ready within three days. Until then, I will not allow you to harm him... Byakuya Kuchiki." Naruto then released Byakuya's sword. Byakuya simply closed his eyes and said, "Do with him as you please." With that Naruto and Yoruichi, whom was on top of a building, disappeared instantly. As Naruto and Yoruichi started moving away, Naruto turned towards Yoruichi with a teasing smile on his face. "Seems like the God of Flash Yoruichi couldn't keep up with my technique."

"Shut up."

"Yes ma'am."

After they returned to the cave, Yoruichi placed Ichigo on the ground, before stumbling. Naruto caught her before she lost her balance. "I suppose this is what happens when you don't fight for so long... I didn't think I'd lose my breath from just a few hundred Shunpos... I've gotten weak."

"It couldn't be helped. You'll regain your full prowess in no time." Yoruichi and Naruto sat down, watching Ichigo rest.

"Did you mean what you said earlier?" Yoruichi asked.

"About what?"

"When you said that you would train Ichigo as your new protege?"

Naruto stared at Ichigo for a moment answering. "He's the key."

"Hm?"

"He has potential. I could see it when I watched him battle Byakuya. He'll become strong. Perhaps even stronger than me. But there's also... something about him. Something I feel could change Byakuya's mind about the rules and order and all that crap."

Yoruichi smiled. "You're an intriguing man, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yeah, I know."

*For the sake of simplicity, I'm gonna reduce 100 years to 10. We'll just say that in Soul Society, time is stretched out a bit more.

A.N. - Alright, done. Naruto's got himself a student and Byakuya knows the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. Whaddya think? Lemme know and please look forward to the next chapter. Seeya next time.

Green out.


	10. Chapter 9: The Training Begins

Chapter 9: The Training Begins

As Ichigo started to open his eyes, he took notice of his surroundings, seeing Yoruichi as well.

"You're awake." Yoruichi said.

Ichigo then sat up, trying to collect his thoughts. "Where are we-" Then, in a flash, did his memory return to him and he realized what happened and where he was. Angrily, he grabbed Yoruichi by the collar and pushed her against the wall.

"Why?! Why'd you only bring me back?! I was the one most likely to survive if left there! Now Ganju, Hanataro... and Rukia will all be killed!"

"Don't raise yourself up so high, kid." Naruto cut in. He then grabbed Ichigo's arm and threw him over his shoulder. "No one there would've survived against Byakuya. Especially not you."

"You.. bastard!"

"Stop making a fuss!" Yoruichi chided. "Are you trying to reopen the wound that had just closed?"

"Screw you!"

"Carrying one person was my maximum for escaping Byakuya for sure."

"There's two of you, right? Why didn't you just take her and run?"

"Because kid," Naruto squatted down. "I need to prove a point."

Ichigo looked up at him angrily. "A point?! You could've saved Rukia's life, you piece of sh-"

Naruto grabbed Ichigo's collar and held him up in the air. "Look, dandelion! That's my student and he's letting his sister die. He is giving her up willingly. Without a fight. Without emotion. I have an obligation to care for him and the only way I can accomplish that is by using YOU! So shut the hell up!" Naruto then threw Ichigo on the ground. "Besides, with Jushiro there, no one's gonna die."

"Urgh... what do you mean 'use me'?"

"You're the only way I have of getting through to him. But as you are now, you can't beat Byakuya. So you're gonna stay here and become stronger. Under my tutelage."

"What?"

"That's right. From here on out, you're Naruto Uzumaki's protege. Good luck to ya."

After getting that settled, the trio traveled to a hidden spacious cavern.

"How're your wounds?" Yoruichi asked.

"Ah, a lot better than they were earlier." Ichigo replied.

"We don't have time to wait for you to fully recover. You may feel pain, but you'll have to get over it."

"Yeah." Ichigo then looked around. "But.. it feels like I've been here before.."

"You're the first outsider to be let in here. Impressive, isn't it?"

"Ah.. well, whatever. We don't have time, right?" Ichigo pulled out his Zanpakuto while getting in a ready stance.

Naruto stepped forward, hands in his pockets, before walking towards his new student. "That's right. Now, embed your Zanpakuto into the ground." Initially confused, Ichigo complied before turning his weapon upside down and stabbing it into the ground as instructed. "Now sit." Naruto sat down cross-legged in front of the embedded sword with Ichigo following suit on the other side.

"First, let me ask you... do you realize that your Zanpakuto is in its released form full-time?"

"It is?" Ichigo inspected the blade for a moment. "Released full-time... sounds like Kenpachi... It did seem pretty weird that Zangetsu's shape was so different from everyone else's. And it never changes when I call its name."

"I figured as much.. then that means you don't know that Zangetsu has a second stage?" Ichigo's face indicated his surprise. "Not just Zangetsu," Naruto continued. "But all Zanpakuto have two stages. Stage one," Naruto held up one finger. "is known as Shikai. Stage number two," He then raised up his second finger. "is known as Bankai. Being able to obtain these two stages is a requirement of becoming a captain. This is the traditional manner and only one has become a captain without achieving Bankai."

"Who?"

"Kenpachi Zaraki."

Ichigo's eyes widened as memories flashed of his duel with Kenpachi. "In the long history of Soul Society, he's the only one who was able to become a captain without achieving Bankai nor knowing his Zanpakuto's name. This is a testament to how strong he really is, as I'm sure you understand quite well. The difference in power between the Shikai and Bankai of a Zanpakuto, while varying in degree due to the individual Shinigami, is generally five to ten times greater."

"Ten times?"

"Unbelievable increase, ain't it? Because of that, it requires at least ten years of training to achieve, even for people with talent."

"But, we don't have-"

"Relax." Naruto calmly stated. "I already know. And that's why we're gonna try another method."

"Another one?"

"Yeah. The same method I used when achieving my Bankai. An extremely dangerous method that'll allow you to achieve Bankai in three days."

"Three days..." Ichigo let out, shock still clear in his voice.

Naruto turned his head back to address Yoruichi. "I'll take first shift. After I'm done with him, he's all yours. That alright with you?"

"Take your time." Yoruichi replied with a wink.

"Good," Naruto now returned his attention back to his new student. "Place your hand on your Zanpakuto, close your eyes and then we'll begin." After Ichigo complied, Naruto repeated the same actions as Ichigo. "Now," Naruto continued. "Open 'em."

Ichigo opened his eyes to see blue skies, white clouds and buildings standing sideways. Ichigo eyes widened as it he realized where he was. "My... inner world?"

"That's right." A deep voice rang out. "Welcome back, Ichigo." Ichigo turned to the source of the voice, to see a familiar face.

"Zangetsu?" The spirit of Zangetsu appeared as a tall middle-aged man. He had pale skin, high cheekbones, stubble, and long ragged black hair with brown highlights. His attire consisted of a tattered white dress shirt with an upturned collar and cuffs, black pants, low-heeled boots, and a long, amorphous black overcoat with a burgundy highlight that flared out into ragged ends. He wore brown-tinted, semi-transparent wrap-around sunglasses.

"So that's your Zanpakuto? Zangetsu?" Ichigo turned around to see Naruto standing on the building as well with his hands in his pockets and his coat flowing in the air.

"How are you..?"

"A little trick I learned awhile back. Now then, let's get started. But first," Naruto ripped open his vest and sweater, revealing his upper body. He then placed his hand on his stomach, before turning it. Behind Naruto manifested a huge fox creature, at least the size of a small mountain. The fox had red-orange fur, and red eyes. It possessed the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands.

Ichigo, shocked to see such a creature in his inner world, proceeding to ask what the hell that was. "This.." Naruto answered. "Is my Zanpakuto spirit."

"Y-your Zanpakuto?"

"**Hmph. So this is your inner world.**"

"His name's Kurama." Naruto explained. "He's a real bundle of love and joy."

"**Don't make me eat you.**"

"Listen, Zangetsu.." Naruto started. "I need your help. It's time for Ichigo to achieve his next level of combat capability. Can you help us with that?"

Not a moment later, did a sleek black sword appear in Zangetsu's hand. "I understand. I'll aid Ichigo in his training."

"Zangetsu, what's that sword?" Ichigo asked.

"This is your Bankai."

"My Bankai?"

"That's right. If you can defeat me, it is yours."

"Not only him." Another voice rang out. Ichigo turned to the source to see his dark self, his Inner Hollow. "Yo! Long time no see." The being greeted. Ichigo's inner hollow looked exactly like a dark reflection of Ichigo himself. Ichigo's was fairly tall and lean-built with white skin and hair. His eyes consisted of black pupils, white irises, and black sclera. He had black nails. He also wore a white shihakusho with a black cloth belt.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo demanded.

"Heh! Still don't get it yet, dumbass? I'm _you_. I'm your instincts, your raw negative feelings that get buried deep and never disappear."

"Well, that's.. interesting." Naruto began. "But as I was saying, you'll have to defeat your Zanpakuto and apparently," Naruto motioned to the Dark Ichigo. "Him too."

Ichigo's face became one of determination, as he pointed his sword at Zangetsu. "Bring it on, old man!" Ichigo taunted.

Zangetsu complied, rushing forward bring his blade down onto Ichigo. Ichigo blocked it horizontally with his weapon, before pushing it off and attempting to stab Zangetsu. Zangetsu shifted his body, allowing Dark Ichigo to jump on Ichigo's outstretched blade and try to slice off Ichigo's head. Ichigo ducked before jumping back, creating some distance between him and his opponents. Panting slightly, Ichigo decided to analyze the situation. But before any thoughts could take place, he was cut off by his Inner Hollow.

"Look at ya! Trying to strategize! I knew you weren't worthy of being king! Unable to move on your instincts, to simply step forward and crush your enemy!"

"He's right Ichigo. Strategy will not help you here. Thinking will not help you here. Retreat, and you will age. Hesitate, and you will die."

Ichigo readied himself, concentrating his power into his sword. He then raised his sword into the air before bringing it down, and from its tip, a blue crescent shaped slash was sent towards Zangetsu and Dark Ichigo. Dark Ichigo smirked before raising his own Zanpakuto, then bringing it down just as Ichigo did, and unleashing a black slash that overpowered Ichigo's. Ichigo's eyes widened as the blast impacted, destroying part of the building he was currently on. Ichigo emerged from the rubble, bleeding from the head and with tattered clothes. Ichigo took a breath before muttering something indiscernible.

"Huh? Speak up! Can't hear ya." Dark Ichigo shouted.

"The name!"

"What?"

"The name of the technique... what is it?"

"Heh, why should I tell you? What have you done to earn it?"

"...I asked."

Zangetsu smiled at this. "Getsuga Tensho."

"Getsuga.. Tensho?"

"Tch!" Dark Ichigo let out. "Babyin' 'im."

Ichigo then pointed his sword towards his opponents, directing the entirety of his spiritual power into its tip, he then raised it once more. "Getsuga... TENSHO!" Ichigo brought the sword down with a mighty slash, the attack being much bigger than Dark Ichigo's. The attack completely obliterated the skyscraper they were on, causing everyone except the ones whom were hit, to migrate to another structure. Ichigo, after landing on another building, look towards where his attack hit.

"Well done, Ichigo." Ichigo spun around to see Zangetsu and Dark Ichigo standing before him, unharmed. "But it is far from over."

Ichigo smirked before charging forward. "Haah!"

While watching Ichigo fight against his inner spirits, Naruto was currently reminiscing about his training sessions with Byakuya years ago.

**Flashback**

_"Haah!" Young Byakuya let out as he brought down his bokken (wooden sword) onto Naruto. Naruto blocked it effortlessly, turning the sword away from himself, before aiming the kick towards Byakuya's stomach. Byakuya shifted his body, blocking the attack with his arm, before moving in with a stab. Naruto jumped off his supporting leg, placing his hand on the dull side of Byakuya's bokken, before his waist and kicking Byakuya in the side of the head._

_"Urgh!" _

_Naruto then landed gracefully on the ground, before stabbing his own bokken into the ground. Holding his hips, Naruto smiled down at Byakuya with mirth. "You'll have to do better than that, Byaku-chan."_

_"Quit callin' me that, whisker face!" _

_Naruto then thumped Byakuya's forehead with his finger, knocking the boy's head back. As his student cursed to the heavens while holding his injured head, Naruto proceeded to lecture him._

_"Respect, kid. Now, look, if you wanna be an all-around fighter, you need to understand the motions and mechanics of the body. Knowing how to swing a sword is all well and good, but if there's one thing I learned from the Old Man, is that if you can't take a punch... you'll die."_

_At this, Byakuya became serious. "Alright... Sensei." He addressed._

_"Good. Now I know you've been training with Yoruichi as well, and that she's already begun teaching you the basics of Shunpo, but I'm gonna introduce another technique to you. At its max, it's 10x better than Shunpo."_

_"10x?!"_

_"Amazing, ain't it? I developed it awhile back in place of Shunpo. It's a pain in the ass to master but once ya do, it pays off. You up for it?"_

_Byakuya smirked. "Bring it."_

**Present Time**

"All right," Naruto declared as he snapped back to reality. "Let's kick it up a notch. Ya ready, furball?"

"**Sure, brat.**"

Naruto jumped into the middle of the battle, knocking Ichigo into another building with a kick. Rising from the rubble, Ichigo preceded to share his feelings about that kick with his new teacher.

"What the hell was that?!"

"It's time to pump it up a bit. Me, my Zanpakuto - Kurama, Zangetsu, and your Inner Hollow are all gonna try to kill ya."

"What?! How the hell am I-?"

"Supposed to defend yourself? Figure it out." Naruto rushed forward, delivering a hook kick to Ichigo's face. Ichigo's reaction was fast enough as he managed to block the strike with his Zanpakuto, but the attack was strong enough to send Ichigo back into the air several yards. Ichigo had no time to recover, as Kurama suddenly appeared behind him, striking him down to the surface of the building with his huge paw.

"Damn it!" Ichigo let out as he struggled against Kurama's strength.

Kurama then opened his mouth, charging up a small Tailed Beast Bomb. Ichigo's eyes widened and thinking quickly, Ichigo grabbed a hold of his sword and delivering another Getsuga Tensho at the same time Kurama shot off his own attack. The collision created an explosion which knocked Kurama back a-bit and allowed Ichigo to escape. As Ichigo moved away in an attempt to create some distance, Zangetsu suddenly appeared above him with his sword held above his head. Ichigo's eyes widened as he suddenly realized something. In an instant, Ichigo threw away his current Zanpakuto and as soon as Zangetsu brought down his blade, Ichigo grabbed it and found that his hand was still intact. His eyes then became blue as Zangetsu de-materialized into the black sword. Ichigo then held the hilt of the sword with his other hand, before looking towards Naruto with a sense of accomplishment on his face.

'_Heh, he figured out._' Naruto then smirked at Ichigo. '_Not bad kid, not bad._'

"Don't relax now, kid. The real hard stuff is still to come." Naruto warned.

Ichigo simply smirked. "Bring it."

A.N. - Chapter 9 is finished! What'd ya guys think? Let me know in the review. Follow, fav, share, all that great stuff. And I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Thanks.

Green out.


	11. Chapter 10: Like Teacher, Like Student

Chapter 10: Like Teacher, Like Student

The three days have finally passed. Rukia Kuchiki was now scheduled for execution. She was brought to the site of her execution - the Sokyoku Hill which had on its site the Sokyoku, a large halberd positioned in front of a large scaffold, where she stood on top of a platform, allowing everyone in attendance to see her.

"Now, let us begin the rite." Said Genryusai.

One of the people in attendance, Sui-Feng, Captain of Squad 2, commented to her lieutenant about the status of the gathering. "So few people have gathered... The only squads with both captain and lieutenants are the Captain-Commander's 1st Squad, our 2nd Squad, and Kyouraku's 8th squad. Setting 5th, 11th, and 12th aside as unavoidable, what are the others thinking... even Unohana of 4th Squad is not here..." Sui- Feng was a relatively petite woman with gray eyes and black hair. Her hair was worn short with two long braids bound in white cloth, each ending in a large golden ring. She wore a traditional Shinigami captain's uniform with a sleeveless haori and a yellow obi tied around her waist. Underneath her standard Shinigami captain's uniform, Sui-Feng wore a uniform which had no sleeves and didn't cover the back, though she did wear long black arm bands. Instead of wearing the standard Shinigami sandals with tabi, she wore traditional Chinese shoes with ordinary white socks. She stopped talking as Byakuya was seen walking towards the site in his calm, but dignified manner. Rukia's eyes widened upon seeing him, but he had no reaction whatsoever.

"Rukia Kuchiki, do you have any last words to say?" Genryusai continued.

Rukia took a moment before answering. "Yes... just one thing... I simply make the request... that after this execution has been completed... that you send the ryoka home unharmed..."

Genryusai took in a deep breath. "As you wish."

Upon hearing this Rukia's eyes lighted up. "Thank you very much."

After the Kido Corps arrived, along with Retsu Unohana, captain of Squad 4, a kind looking individual who had the appearance of a slender and very youthful woman with blue eyes and black hair, who wore the standard Shinigami captain uniform apart from using an obi instead of the normal sash, and also had long hair and was worn as a large braid down the front of her body, arrived, Genryusai then issued the command. "Release the Sokyoku!"

The Kido Corps then, through their own procedure, released the ropes holding up the Sokyoku, before three blocks raised out of the platform, one in front of her, the other two on either side. The front block rose up until it was at the level of her feet, and the two blocks on the side rose up to her shoulder height, forcing her arms to raise up until they were stretched to the side, completely parallel to the platform. The blocks then began to rise, taking her with them. The halberd rose in the air, before emitting an immense amount of flames, it rose into the air, pointing itself towards the victim, who was currently held before it by the support beams. The flames, enveloping the halberd, revealing its true form; a massive, phoenix-like entity.

"Ki-Ko-O!" Genryusai announced. "The true form of Sokyoku's blade and the final enforcer of the death penalty. When he pierces the criminal, the death penalty will be over."

As Rukia resigned herself to her fate, the fiery phoenix launched forward, prepared to vaporize her soul. Rukia opened her eyes to see Ichigo in the air, holding the phoenix back with Zangetsu, while everyone save a few were looking on with shock.

Ichigo, with a cloak around his shoulders and bandages on his arms and lower right corner of his face, casually addressed Rukia. "Yo."

"Ichigo?!" Rukia said in surprise. Ichigo simply smiled at her. Rukia then closed her eyes, taking in a breath and shouting at him, "You idiot! Why'd you come back?!" Ichigo was taken aback by this. "How could you not understand by now? You can't defeat Nii-sama! You'll be killed! I've already accepted my fate! I don't need to be rescued! GO AWAY!"

As if to emphasize her command, the flames of the fiery spirit burned brighter, while the Shinigami below continued to marvel at what had just transpired.

"I-impossible..." Sui-Feng stated in her moment of shock. "He stopped it?! It had the destructive power equal to one million Zanpakuto! The soul of the Sokyoku... stopped with just one Zanpakuto? What the hell is he?"

"Nanao-chan," Shunsui Kyoraku, captain of squad 8, addressed his lieutenant, Nanao Ise. "Could that boy be the one that ryoka was talking about?"

"Yes. His appearance also matches the reports from squad members."

"I see." Shunsui Kyoraku is a tall, light-skinned Shinigami with high cheekbones, grey eyes and long wavy brown hair. His hair is tied in a long ponytail and has long bangs that frame the left side of his face. He also has a noticeable amount of body hair on his chest, feet, and arms. He wears a straw hat and a pink, flowered lady's kimono, which he drapes across his shoulders and over his captain's uniform. He does not wear tabi with his sandals. He has thin facial hair around his upper mouth. He then pulled his straw hat over his face. "So it turns out they were the ones who made it in time."

The Sokyoku reared back, before preparing another strike. Ichigo turned around to face it. "So it's comin' around for a second strike? Alright, bring it on!" As the Sokyoku began to charge forward, Ichigo charged forward as well. However, at the last moment, a cord went over the Sokyoku's head, trapping it. Captain Ukitake, a tall man with a somewhat emaciated appearance arrives much to everyone's shock and then Captain Kyoraku moves to Ukitake's side. Jushiro Ukitake had long white hair that almost reached his waist. He wore it parted on the left side with one long piece that tended to fall over his right eye. He had green eyes and he wore the common Shinigami uniform with a long sleeved captain's haori, and a crimson lining. He also wore a narrow white obi, in which he secured his Zanpakuto. Sui-Feng caught on and tried to send her lieutenant, Marechiyo Omaeda, to stop them, but she was too late and the two captains destroy the Sokyoku.

"Not quite sure what's going on here." A confused Ichigo stated. "But if that's over.." He then jumped onto the Sokyoku's cross. His eyes then turned blue.

"What're you planning to do, Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"Ain't it obvious?" He asked as he grabbed his Zanpakuto by its cloth and began spinning it around rapidly. "I'm bout to destroy this scaffold."

Rukia eyes widened immensely. "D-don't! That's too dangerous! Listen to me, Ichigo! The cross of the Sokyoku is.."

"Quit worryin'." Ichigo assured. He then brought his sword to a halt, catching it in the process. "Just shut up and watch." Ichigo then brought his sword down on to the cross, causing the entire object to emit blue. A shockwave of pressure was felt, before an explosion was heard and a cloud of dust resulted from it.

"You talk too damn much, with your "don't save me" and "go away". I told you before that all your opinions are rejected. This is the second time. And this time, you're coming with me, Rukia." Ichigo was announced, while currently holding Rukia under his arm.

Rukia smiled, her eyes glimmered before she shut them. "I'm not thanking you, you fool..."

A small smile crept on Ichigo's face. "That's fine."

"Hey, hey, lookie there. Ya got her!" Rukia's attention was changed to the person standing on the beam above them. Blond hair, blue eyes, whiskers, a red coat flowing in the wind and a huge smile on his face. Check. We have Naruto Uzumaki.

Ichigo, without even turning around, replied, "Yeah, I did. I appreciate your help."

"Don't thank me yet, kid. We still have a few battles ahead of us."

On the ground, the Shinigami in attendance were once again amazed at the events that had just transpired.

"The Sokyoku's... cross..." Squad 4's lieutenant, Isane Kotetsu, let out in shock. Isane was a tall, young looking woman with gray eyes and short messy silver hair with strands on the right side of her face that were shoulder-length and styled as two thin braids. She wore a thin dangling red earring on each ear and a standard Shinigami uniform with her lieutenant badge on her left arm. Their attention quickly shifted to the sound of the Kido Corps getting beaten up. The beater was revealed to be Renji Abarai.

"Finally got here, Renji?" Ichigo called out.

Upon seeing him, Rukia joyfully addressed him. "Renji!"

Renji looked up towards her with an equal amount amount of joy. "Rukia!"

"I'm so glad you're alive! Renji!"

"I knew you'd come." Ichigo said.

"If I wasn't here, then who the hell would save Rukia?" Renji retorted.

Ichigo smiled at this. Ichigo then held Rukia over his head, in a similar manner one would hold a football.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked. "What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo then rocked her forwards then backwards.

Down on the ground, Renji's face paled. "Hell no... you're not actually..."

But yes, indeed, he was. Ichigo threw Rukia towards Renji, the catch sending Renji back a few feet. As they recovered, Ichigo ordered Renji to take Rukia and run. Renji complied, holding Rukia tightly, he began to race off as fast as he could.

"A-abarai..." Omaeda, a large man with black hair, and wore the standard Shinigami robes with a large purple collar as well as expensive, personalized jewelry sputtered out.

"Don't just stand there, you morons!" Sui-Feng snapped. "All you lieutenants! After him!" After receiving approval from their respective captains, Chojiro Sasakibe and Isane went with Omaeda after Renji. However, they were quickly halted by the sudden appearance of Ichigo.

Upon seeing Ichigo move the way he just did, Byakuya's eyes widened ever so slightly. '_That technique..._'

"Outta the way!" Yelled the Squad 2 lieutenant. "Smash 'em, Gegetsuburi!" In its Shikai, Gegetsuburi transformed into an over-sized spiked ball attached to a long chain.

"Pierce, Gonryomaru!" Sasakibe unleashed his Shikai and in its Shikai, Gonryomaru transformed into a rapier.

"Sprint, Itegumo!" Following the two lieutenants, Isane also released her Shikai. When it was activated, two smaller blades protruded from Itegumo's hilt at 45° angles.

However, Ichigo was fast and quite strong, as he immediately punched through Omaeda's Shikai, straight into his large stomach, knocking him out. After finishing with him, Ichigo spun around Sasakibe's attempted stab before delivering an upward palm-strike under his chin, promptly taking him out as well. Ichigo then striked Isane in her stomach, finishing her off too.

**"Hmph.. Not bad."** Naruto smirked upon hearing his tenant's comment. Ichigo turned around to block the strike hastily given by Byakuya with his Zanpakuto. "I told you I can see you, Byakuya Kuchiki!"

They both jumped back, creating some distance. "How bout I show you.. how different I was from last time, Byakuya Kuchiki?!" Ichigo then stuck his blade into the ground, threw off his cape, raised his hand and made a 'bring-it-on' motion.

Byakuya closed his eyes before sheathing his sword. "Very well. I will demonstrate to you, that no matter how much you struggle, no matter how much you train, someone like you will never be able to beat me."

The two Shinigami rushed towards each other, with Byakuya initiating the first strike with a side kick to Ichigo's gut. Ichigo blocked it with his forearm, before grabbing it and launching himself into the air. He then did a vertical spin before delivering a heel kick towards Byakuya's head. Byakuya shifted his body, taking the opening that Ichigo's landing just created, Byakuya threw a punch towards Ichigo's face but Ichigo caught with his hand. He then smirked at Byakuya before delivering his next strike.

"Ikkotsu!" Ichigo threw the punch, but Byakuya managed to get off a Shunpo in time. The strength from the punch causing a long imprint within the ground. Ichigo looked behind him to see Byakuya about to throw a roundhouse kick to his face. Ichigo ducked it before launching a punch in Byakuya's stomach, knocking him back several feet. Byakuya glared at him before raising his hand.

"Hado #34 - Sokatsui." A huge beam of energy blasted out of his palm but Ichigo remained poised. As it approached, Ichigo took in a deep breath before raising his fist and just as it approached, Ichigo punched it, creating a gaping hole withing it. Byakuya's eyes widened but the minute he blinked, Ichigo disappeared. Byakuya quickly turned around behind him, his fist ready. His fist collided with Ichigo's as the two fighters unleashed their technique.

"Ikkotsu!" The power from the punch knocked them both back while creating ripples within the air and cracks within the ground below them. After Byakuya was knocked back, he pulled out his sword.

"Enough of these games. Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Naruto watched as his two students fought, his mind rapidly switching from the fight to the conversation currently going on with him and Kurama.

"**The kid's holding his own.**"

'_Yeah._'

"**Do you really think this'll work?**"

'_It has to. If it doesn't.. then I don't know what to do._'

"**Are you still going to go through with it?**"

_'Yeah. Jushiro and Shunsui will want in but this is personal. I have to know. I'm counting on you, partner._'

"**I know.**"

'_Ya know, out of all the battles, I've had these past few days, my favorite one had to be the one I had with Toshiro._'

"**Why's that?**"

'_Cuz we have similar goals. We both wanna surpass somebody._' Naruto looked down, and glared at his teacher. He then moved at unbelievable speeds towards him, allowing his coat to fly off in the process. As Naruto appeared in front of Genryusai, he threw a punch that Genryusai blocked with his cane. Naruto began to push him back, knocking him into an open space. The force of the punch knocked Genryusai's coat into the air, while his cane disintegrated and a large sheathed sword appeared in its place. Naruto jumped back, creating distance between them.

Genryusai gave Naruto an intense, fierce look. "Insolent child."

Naruto simply offered a cheshire-like grin. A moment later, Jushiro and Shunsui appeared beside him, ready to battle.

"Seems like I will have to take it upon myself to teach you children respect." Genryusai commented.

Naruto took in a breath. "Senpais... sorry, but I'm gonna need you to sit out of this one."

Jushiro gave him a confused look. "Naruto-kun, wha-" He didn't get to finish as Naruto grabbed the two of them by the collar and threw a few yards away. Naruto then wove some quick hand signs before slamming his hands on the ground. A few moments later, a huge, wide white barrier was erected around Naruto and his teacher.

"Sorry Jushiro.. but I have to know.. how far I've come." Naruto then turned to Genryusai. "It's you and me, old man. This barrier will allow us to go all-out. We can raise our spiritual pressure without destroying Soul Society."

"Hrmph! Do you know why I've been Captain-Commander for so long? It is because during that whole time, there has not been one who has managed to best me."

"There's a first time for everything." Naruto challenged. Naruto then removed his vest and sweater while Genryusai allowed the upward portion of his uniform to hang around his waist, revealing his many scars. Naruto got in a ready position.

"Come at me.. boy!"

A.N. - Naruto vs Genryusai! Oh, yeah. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I know a lot of it was kind of was just following the original story but I needed some of it to fill in the space. The next chapter will be all me so look forward to that. Anyway, please review, fav, follow and share. See you next time.

Green out.


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